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U.S. Sanctions Dubai-Based Financier Ali Ansari and Shadow Banking Network

Treasury says the designations aim to sever financial lifelines to Iran’s ruling elite, using asset blocks, secondary‑sanctions warnings, a limited wind-down for Smart Global Limited.

Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, DC, US, August 29, 2020.
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Overview

  • The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Ali Ansari and 13 linked people and companies on Friday, July 10, freezing any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and placing them on the blocked list.
  • U.S. officials accuse Ansari of diverting publicly funded wealth into an overseas portfolio that benefited Mojtaba Khamenei, regime insiders, and the IRGC, using shell companies and a Saint Kitts and Nevis holding company called Smart Global Limited.
  • OFAC also targeted three Iran-based currency exchange houses—Mohammad Darbani and Partners, Lavasani and Partners, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners—along with associated front firms in Hong Kong and the UAE that allegedly moved billions for sanctioned Iranian banks.
  • The action includes warnings that foreign banks face secondary‑sanctions risk for facilitating significant transactions and comes with Iran General License Y to allow a narrow, supervised wind-down of Smart Global Limited transactions.
  • The measures build on earlier U.K. sanctions and the October 2025 collapse of Ayandeh Bank, and analysts say the pressure could push Tehran toward more covert banking channels and raise compliance risks for international banks.