• Treasury designates Iranian financier Babak Zanjani's Dot One network, including rail, aviation, and crypto firms, for allegedly helping Tehran evade sanctions.
  • The action freezes U.S.-linked assets and threatens secondary sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the network, raising compliance risks for Turkish and Emirati intermediaries.
  • The move is part of the broader Operation Economic Outcast campaign, which has already targeted nearly 60 Iran-linked entities since August.

US Targets Iran's Dot One Conglomerate in Latest Sanctions Push

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned four individuals and nine entities tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani's sprawling business network, accusing the conglomerate of operating as a commercial front for sanctions evasion. The action freezes any U.S.-linked property and bars most transactions with U.S. persons, while creating material secondary-sanctions risk for foreign banks and firms that continue to deal with the designated companies.

The designations target Tehran-based Dot One Value Creation Group and its subsidiaries, including DotOne Rail, DotOne Airlines, DotOne Gold, and DotOne Trip, a ride-sharing venture. Treasury alleges the network combined transportation, digital-asset exchanges, gold operations, and logistics businesses to obscure ownership and launder funds for Iranian state-linked entities.

"This network epitomizes the opaque structures Iran uses to evade sanctions," a senior Treasury official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We will continue to target the financiers and facilitators who enable this activity."

Zanjani, who received a death sentence in 2016 for embezzlement involving the National Iranian Oil Company before it was commuted in 2024, re-emerged by 2025 as the public-facing CEO and controller of Dot One Value, according to Treasury. The department alleges that as media scrutiny increased, the companies attempted to obscure their connections to him.

The sanctions also extend to support entities and executives in Turkey and the UAE connected to the Zedcex and Zedxion digital-asset exchanges, which OFAC initially designated in January. Treasury claims wallets attributed to the exchanges processed funds for IRGC-linked wallets, providing channels for cross-border payments. Mehdi Rezazadeh, chair of Zedpay, and Sukhrob Oimakhmadov, a manager at Zedx, were among those sanctioned.

The move is part of the broader Operation Economic Outcast campaign announced in August, which expanded potential secondary sanctions across Iran's digital-assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping sectors. That first phase designated nearly 60 Iran-linked people, firms, and vessels. More recently, on September 29, the U.S. sanctioned 13 individuals and entities accused of procuring weapons components for Iran, spanning Iran, China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Russia.

For the affected businesses, the sanctions cut off access to dollar clearing, U.S.-linked assets, correspondent banking, and international logistics providers. A notable disclosed commercial datapoint is an $800 million rail contract secured by Dot One Rail with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways in April 2025. That project now faces significant hurdles, as equipment, insurance, and external finance may be difficult to secure.

Foreign banks and commercial partners are particularly vulnerable. OFAC explicitly warns that foreign financial institutions could face correspondent-account restrictions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for designated parties. This sharply raises compliance costs for Turkish, Emirati, Asian, and other intermediaries that may have previously dealt with the network.

The international dimension is substantial. Turkey and the UAE appear in the Zedcex/Zedxion support network, while China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Russia featured in the September procurement designations. "The U.S. is signaling that it will go after the entire ecosystem, not just the primary targets," said Brett Erickson, a sanctions-risk adviser quoted by Reuters, though he cautioned that such measures may do little to stop Iran's missile and drone capabilities.

Iran's economy is already under severe strain, with Treasury noting a record-low rial and sharply rising inflation. The latest sanctions aim to make alternative sources of hard currency — gold, cryptocurrency, logistics, and state-linked infrastructure — harder to use for financing and evasion. That may deepen economic stress but also encourages the use of opaque trade channels and third-country intermediaries.

The policy's strategic effectiveness will depend on international enforcement coordination and whether economic pressure translates into negotiations. The latest Reuters reporting indicates diplomacy remains uncertain, and critics argue sanctions impose wider civilian costs while entrenching confrontation.

Treasury's action is based primarily on Executive Order 13902, which permits sanctions related to specified sectors of Iran's economy. The designations also build on the U.S. approach of targeting entities owned or controlled by sanctioned persons, not solely those accused of direct activity.

A Treasury spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on potential further designations. The Dot One entities could not be reached for comment.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the number of entities designated in the July action. It is nine, not eleven.