OFAC Designates Financial Firms, Others Helping Iran Evade Sanctions
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 18 entities and people for helping the Iranian government evade sanctions, including financial companies, information technology firms and other businesses providing Iran with banking services or supplying it with advanced surveillance technologies.
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One entity, RUNC Exchange System Company, helped Iran develop a cross-border interbank messaging system designed to allow Iran and its allies to circumvent controls on more commonly used payment systems. OFAC sanctioned Ali Morteza Birang, the primary board member and managing director of RUNC; Mohammad Shafipour, the vice chair of the board of directors; and Seyyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, the chair of the board of directors.
Also designated was Cyrus Offshore Bank, a “shadowy” bank that OFAC said Iran uses to avoid sanctions while making purchases abroad. The agency said the bank is “secretly” owned and staffed by the sanctioned Iranian financial institution Parsian Bank, and is led by Parsian Bank board member Hadi Nouri. Cyrus Offshore Bank’s day-to-day activities are managed by Parsian Bank official Alireza Fatahinojokambari. Adel Berjisian, another Parsian Bank official, serves on Cyrus Bank’s board of directors.
OFAC also sanctioned Iranian software company Pasargad Arian Information and Communication Technology Company for being controlled by Pasargad bank, a “major” financial institution sanctioned in 2020 for operating in the Iranian financial sector (see 2010080056). OFAC said the company helps Iran develop surveillance technologies for the country’s “police state.”
The agency sanctioned the company’s director, Shahab Javanmardi, who it said has “strong” links to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security. It also designated multiple subsidiaries of Pasargad Arian Information and Communication Technology Company, including Qeshm Arian Datis Software Company, Arvand Arian Pasargad Communications and Information Technology Payment Company, Rashid Samaneh Electronic Processing Company, Sherkat-e Barid Fanavar Arian, Arian Pasargad Communications and Information Technology Infrastructure Company, Arian Pasargad Communications and Information Technology Ecosystem Development Company, Arman Kish Data Communications and Information Technology Company, and Pasargad Electronic Payment Services Company.