The U.S. Treasury Department has officially blacklisted two Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, citing their involvement in assisting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to U.S. officials, these platforms served as critical infrastructure for moving funds in violation of international sanctions.

The Times of Israel reports that Shelbit acted as the central hub for a $4 billion sanctions evasion scheme, a figure attributed to earlier Reuters reporting. The sanctions target not only the entities themselves but also key individuals associated with the operations. While both outlets confirm the Treasury’s action, they differ in their scope of reporting; The Times of Israel emphasizes the geopolitical connection to the IRGC, while CoinDesk focuses on the specific entities named in the Treasury’s announcement, including Aban Tether, which was not mentioned in the Times of Israel report.

The move highlights the ongoing tension between the U.S. government’s efforts to enforce financial restrictions and the use of decentralized or offshore digital asset platforms to bypass those controls. The Treasury’s decision to target these specific Dubai-based exchanges underscores a growing focus on the Middle East as a potential nexus for illicit crypto-based financial activity.