The United States imposed sanctions on five Iranian officials it accused of being behind the crackdown on protests and warned it was tracking regime leaders' funds being wired to banks around the world on Thursday, as US President Donald Trump's administration increases pressure on Tehran.
In a statement, the US Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security as well as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and law enforcement forces commanders, accusing them of being architects of the crackdown.
In a parallel action, Defense Minister Israel Katz issued an official statement defining the Iranian State Bank Melli as a terrorist organization.
"This is a government bank in the service of the regime that operates one of the regime's most extensive cover networks, for the purpose of circumventing international sanctions and laundering money," Katz wrote in the statement.
Bessent says US will track down stolen Iranian funds
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a video on Thursday, said Washington's message to Iran's leaders was clear: "The US Treasury knows that, like rats on a sinking ship, you are frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will track them and you."
"But there's still time, if you choose to join us. As President Trump has said, stop the violence and stand with the people of Iran."
"The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice," Bessent said in the statement.
"Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights."
Katz declares the Iranian state bank a terrorist organization
Katz's Thursday statement also noted that “declaring Bank Mali a terrorist organization will help thwart one of the main funding routes for Iran’s terrorist proxies.” Katz's office also noted that the bank was declared a terrorist organization by the United States in 2018.
The defense minister also issued a statement during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in the summer of 2025, declaring the bank a terror organization.
US Treasury sanctions 'shadow banking' networks
The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on 18 individuals it accused of involvement in laundering the proceeds of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales to foreign markets through "shadow banking" networks linked to sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
One of the individuals is Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a former IRGC officer.
The United States also designated Fardis Prison as a terror organization, adding in an official statement that it is "an institution where women have endured cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment."
Thursday's action is the latest move targeting Tehran since Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero and help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.