OFAC

Iran has built a more complex trade system under years of Western sanctions, relying increasingly on China, barter arrangements, and covert financing channels that help it keep goods moving even as formal restrictions target its oil exports, banking access, and foreign trade.

A donor to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is the registered manager and shareholder of a Dubai-based company that previously had business ties to an Iranian conglomerate later placed under U.S. sanctions.

The Trump administration is expected to extend its waiver of sanctions on Russian oil this week, according to former Treasury and State Department officials cited by Semafor, a step that could tee up a similar extension for Iranian oil later this month as the White House weighs fuel prices and broader market stability. 

Iran is seeking to collect transit tolls from oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrency, a move that could deepen the role of digital assets in the country’s sanctions-hit economy.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday proposed new anti-money-laundering and sanctions-compliance rules for permitted payment stablecoin issuers, marking a major step in implementing the 2025 GENIUS Act and expanding federal oversight of the sector.

China has helped Iran blunt the impact of U.S. sanctions over the past five years by buying the bulk of its oil exports and supporting a complex financial and shipping network that has allowed Tehran to keep earning billions of dollars in revenue.

A politically connected blockchain project that partnered with the Trump family’s crypto firm promoted a proposed resort in Timor-Leste involving three people later sanctioned by the United States for ties to the Prince Group, an alleged Southeast Asian scam syndicate.

Asian countries hit by acute energy disruptions from the Gulf conflict are increasingly turning to Russia for emergency oil supplies after the United States granted a temporary sanctions waiver on Russian crude.

The Trump administration on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, removing a key barrier that had prevented Americans from doing business with her and potentially clearing the way for fresh U.S. investment in the country. 

Rwanda has threatened to withdraw its troops from northern Mozambique, where they have spent the past five years containing Islamic State-linked militants, after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Kigali over its alleged support for the M23 insurgency in neighboring Congo.