US sanctions Iranian businessman over alleged links to Mojtaba Khamenei, IRGC

WASHINGTON, Jul 10: The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Iranian businessman Ali Ansari over his alleged ties to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as part of a broader effort targeting Iran's financial networks.

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Ansari, seven other individuals and five companies to its sanctions list. The action includes Iranian exchange houses and firms based in Dubai, Hong Kong and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

OFAC also designated Smart Global Limited, a holding company based in Saint Kitts and Nevis that it said is linked to Ansari, while issuing General License Y to allow the orderly wind-down of transactions involving the company.

Ansari, who holds Iranian, Cypriot and Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship, was sanctioned under US counterterrorism and Iran-related sanctions authorities.