US Sanctions UK Crypto Exchanges Linked to Iran’s Regime

• OFAC targets Zedcex & Zedxion, the first crypto exchanges linked to Iran’s IRGC and regime money laundering.
• High-ranking Iranian officials face sanctions for violent crackdowns, mass killings, and internet blackouts.
• Sanctions block assets in the US and warn that any transactions with these entities risk civil or criminal penalties.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken decisive action against UK-based crypto exchanges Zedcex and Zedxion for facilitating Iran’s sanctions evasion.

This marks the first time OFAC has targeted digital asset exchanges for operating within Iran’s financial sector. The exchanges, linked to controversial businessman Babak Morteza Zanjani, processed over $389 million connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent emphasized, “Rather than build a prosperous Iran, the regime has chosen to squander what remains of the nation’s oil revenues on nuclear weapons development, missiles, and terrorist proxies around the world.”

In addition to the trades, OFAC sanctioned seven Iranians, including Iran’s interior minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari and senior IRGC members. Momeni is in charge of the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), which are in charge of killing large numbers of people and brutally suppressing nonviolent demonstrators.

Sanctions are also imposed on Majid Khademi, Ghorban Mohammad Valizadeh, Hossein Zare Kamali, Hamid Damghani, and Mehdi Hajian for their involvement in the suppression of protests, which resulted in hundreds of casualties and widespread intimidation in certain provinces.

Digital Assets as a Tool for Evasion

Zanjani, once sentenced to death for embezzling billions from Iran’s National Oil Company, was released in 2024 to support regime projects. Since then, he has funded infrastructure initiatives and connected two UK exchanges to IRGC-linked wallets.

Zedcex, registered in 2022, processed over $94 billion in transactions. Zedxion, established in 2021 with Zanjani as director, also facilitated similar transfers. Consequently, OFAC designated both exchanges under E.O. 13902 and E.O. 13224 for materially assisting the IRGC.

Additionally, all of the identified people’ and businesses’ property under U.S. control is intended to be blocked by the sanctions. Transactions involving these banned assets are forbidden for U.S. citizens. The message that financial networks cannot cover up illegal regime activity is reinforced by the possibility of civil or criminal sanctions for violations.

Using the long-standing general license GL D-2, the U.S. government additionally emphasized steps to safeguard Iranian people‘ internet access amid the ongoing blackout. Despite the limitations imposed by the government, Treasury supports efforts to keep lines of communication open.