The US Treasury Department announced on the 1st that, as part of "Operation Economic Outcast," a new economic sanctions program against Iran unveiled in August 2026, it has taken extraordinary action against the "A7 Network," a shadow banking network used by the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to evade sanctions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule to prohibit the transmission of assets related to transactions involving the A7 Network, including the "Sub-Agents," a group of front companies at its overseas outposts, and explained that an investigation revealed the Sub-Agents processed more than 17 billion dollars in transactions in total between January 2025 and June 2026. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the A7 Network as a significant transnational criminal organization subject to sanctions, and also pointed to its connections to Nobitex, Iran's largest digital asset exchange, which is already under sanctions, as well as its involvement in transactions related to attacks on North Korean virtual currency exchanges. Several entities involved with the A7 Network, including "A7 LLC," have already been sanctioned, and this time the scope has been broadened to target the A7 Network itself. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented that this is an effort to dismantle the financial infrastructure that Iran and other hostile countries use for sanctions evasion and illicit asset transfers.
A7 LLC is named as an entity involved with the A7 Network already sanctioned, with the new action broadening scope to target the network itself.
OFAC sanctions target the A7 Network and point to its connections to Nobitex, Iran's largest digital asset exchange already under sanctions.
