Treasury hit the Islamic Republic and Russia today.On the Islamic Republic, it went after the auto sector (and the IRGC' | Hanami
Treasury hit the Islamic Republic and Russia today.
On the Islamic Republic, it went after the auto sector (and the IRGC's smuggling), metals, and most importantly the rail sector and the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company, which exposes foreign rail, terminal, logistics, and financial counterparties supporting Iranian rail activity to sanctions.
This is the airline strategy from September but for rail. Iran's trade with China and Russia crosses at five border stations, two with Turkmenistan, one each with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan, and the railways on the other side are all state-owned. If Turkmenistan stops taking Iranian cars at Sarakhs, the China route is closed.https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0643/
Treasury also hit Russia's state-run version of a hawala network, copied from Iran and scaled up: the A7 Network. Treasury documented $140 million in Iranian sanctions evasion and $1.6 million in weapons procurement through A7, compared to $17 billion Russian evasion through the network overall. Today's action both blocks A7 and maps its hundreds of subagents to send to banks to monitor, stop transactions, and report. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0644/