Officials at the U.S. Treasury Department made history with an announcement that breaks new ground in America’s long-running standoff with Iran. For the first time, Washington has gone after cryptocurrency exchanges as part of its sanctions toolkit, targeting digital platforms that authorities say have funneled billions to Tehran’s military apparatus.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) hit Zedcex Exchange and Zedxion Exchange with penalties, marking a shift in how the US pursues financial pressure campaigns. Both firms, despite holding UK registrations, allegedly served as conduits for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to move money beyond the reach of traditional banking sanctions.
Massive Transaction Volumes Raise Red Flags
Investigators found that these platforms were not managing small transactions. Since Zedcex started operations in 2022, it has pushed through more than $94 billion in transactions. Treasury analysts followed the money trail through blockchain records, connecting wallet after wallet back to Revolutionary Guard operations.
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“The regime is frantically transferring funds stolen from Iranian families into banks worldwide,” said Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary. He promised more action against anyone helping Iran dodge sanctions through digital currencies.
The exchanges are linked to Babak Morteza Zanjani, whose story reads like a thriller. Iranian courts handed him a death sentence in 2016 after he pocketed billions from the state oil company. His sentence got reduced last year, and now he’s back financing major projects for the Revolutionary Guard. Registration documents from May 2021 list Zanjani as a director of Zedxion Crypto Exchange.
Violence at Home Draws Penalties
The sanctions are not just about money. Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari got hit for overseeing what officials call systematic brutality against protesters. His security forces killed thousands during demonstrations, carrying out mass arrests while people simply vanished into detention. Five Revolutionary Guard officers from Gilan province were also added to the sanctions list.
In 2025, OFAC sanctioned more than 875 persons, vessels, and aircraft as part of the U.S. sanctions campaign aimed at Iran for human rights abuses and evasions of sanctions. The measures send a clear message that human rights abuses will carry global consequences.
