US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

 In a move aimed at further isolating Iran, on Friday the Treasury Department sanctioned a Turkish bank it said was doing business with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The department said in a news release that Golden Global Bank and its subsidiaries have facilitated tens of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for the IRGC’s expeditionary arm, the Quds Force. The Turkey-based bank is also accused of providing the Iranian regime with correspondent banking access that allows it to move its funds internationally. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on global financial institutions to cease their support of “the murderous Iranian regime.” 

“We know who you are, we know where you are and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake,” Bessent said in a statement on Friday.

The new sanctions are part of the administration’s newly launched Operation Economic Outcast, an effort to sever Iran’s remaining financial lifelines after six months of war.  The United States and Iran resumed military strikes this week, heightening fears of a return to full-blown war. 

Bessent told reporters Monday that Iran’s economy could be “weeks or months” away from collapse as a result of US sanctions and a naval blockade disrupting fuel supplies. After six months of war and decades of sanctions, unemployment in Iran is high, the currency has hit record lows and annual inflation is expected to reach nearly 70% by the end of the year, according to the International Monetary Fund.  

Yet many experts doubt the new measures will force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war. The country is experienced in evading sanctions, including through the use of alternative trade routes, cryptocurrencies and front companies. 

The Trump administration has so far avoided targeting Iran’s financial lifelines to China, its largest trading partner. Beijing has warned it would retaliate if its banks are sanctioned. 

Last Friday, the Treasury Department took aim at the United Arab Emirates-based branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, which it described as a “critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to US dollars.” The department stopped short of sanctioning Banque Misr UAE but moved to block it from engaging with US financial ⁠institutions.

This article has been updated to include comment from the State Department.