The United States has hit Iranian financier Babak Zanjani’s network with a new sanctions package, targeting nine firms and four people tied to his Dot One conglomerate and digital-asset operations as the wider Iran crisis keeps widening.
The move is not another missile headline, but it matters. Washington is trying to squeeze the financial machinery it says helps Iran move money around sanctions, including through gold, crypto-linked services, transportation ventures, and companies based outside Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four individuals and nine entities that it described as key pieces of Zanjani’s broader Iranian sanctions-evasion network. Treasury said Zanjani has used financial services, gold and precious-gem production, digital-asset trading, and major infrastructure projects to obscure ownership, launder revenue, and move funds covertly through Iran and offshore.
The Economic Times reported that the sanctions cover Zanjani’s Iran-based Dot One operations and companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that supported his already designated digital asset exchanges. Middle East Eye also reported the new designations, noting Treasury’s allegation that the network helped launder revenue and covertly move funds for Iran.
The Dot One network is the core target
Treasury said the new action focuses on Zanjani’s Dot One conglomerate, including Dot One Value Creation Group, DotOne Gold Company, DotOne Rail Company, DotOne Barter Company, DotOne Airlines Company, and DotOne Trip. OFAC’s accompanying recent-action notice lists those entities among the additions to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
The details are specific. Treasury said Dot One Value is the primary holding company for the conglomerate and that DotOne Gold is tied to Tala Token, an allegedly gold-backed digital asset token. It also cited an $800 million rail contract that Dot One Rail Company secured with the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways in April 2025.
That gives the sanctions a broader target than a single bank account or shell company. Washington is pointing at a whole commercial ecosystem: finance, gold, rail, airlines, ride-sharing, and digital assets.
The crypto links are central
Zanjani and his two largest digital-asset projects, Zedcex and Zedxion, were already designated in January. Treasury now says firms in Turkey and Dubai helped support those exchanges.
OFAC named Istanbul-based Zedpay Finansal Sistem Ve Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi, Dubai-based Zedx DMCC, and Dubai-based BZ Diamond FZCO. It also designated several people connected to those firms, including Mehdi Rezazadeh, Sukhrob Oimakhmadov, Bahareh Morteza Zanjani, and Solmaz Bani.
Treasury said Zedcex and Zedxion-attributed addresses processed funds on behalf of wallets attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It also said Zedpay provided Zedxion with fiat settlement and cross-border payment capabilities.
Why it matters now
The sanctions land while Iran is under intense military, diplomatic, and economic pressure. The Economic Times reported that Iran’s currency has hit new lows in recent weeks, with renewed hostilities adding pressure to an economy already dealing with inflation above 60% and negative growth.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran was paying a steep economic price and that Treasury would keep cutting off access for “corrupt Iranian regime elites, along with their financiers and facilitators.”
The practical effect is that U.S.-linked property belonging to the designated people and companies is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally barred from doing business with them. OFAC also warned that entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are themselves blocked.
This is the quieter side of the Iran crisis, but not a minor one. As the military confrontation dominates the news cycle, Washington is also trying to close the financial routes it believes keep Tehran’s sanctioned networks alive.