04-28-2026 
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The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two blockchain wallets linked to Iran while requesting that Tether freeze $344 million in USDT stablecoin held in the wallets, as part of an operation aimed at “maximizing economic pressure across the entirety of the government to Iran.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the measures in an April 24 post on X, saying that OFAC would “follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime.”
He added that “under Economic Fury, U.S. Treasury will continue to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched “Operation Economic Fury” earlier in April as part of a broader strategy by the Pentagon to disrupt Iran’s ability to continue financing its war efforts. While the Pentagon imposed a naval blockade, which, according to Hegseth, saw at least 13 ships retreat and turn back in the first three days, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did his part by announcing on April 15 additional sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Iranian regime.
Specifically, OFAC sanctioned more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels operating within the network of Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, who was killed by U.S. strikes on the first day of the war.
On April 24, OFAC continued this sanctioning campaign, designating Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery—a China-based independent teapot refinery and one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products—along with approximately 40 shipping firms and vessels that operate as part of Iran’s shadow fleet, whose transportation of petroleum and petrochemicals provides a vital source of funding for Iran’s embattled regime.
“Economic Fury is imposing a financial stranglehold on the Iranian regime, hampering its aggression in the Middle East, and helping to curtail its nuclear ambitions,” said Bessent. “At President Trump’s direction, Treasury will continue to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers Iran relies on to move its oil to global markets.”
He added that “any person or vessel facilitating these flows—through covert trade and finance—risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.”
Even before the U.S. and Israel launched their campaign against Iran on February 28, 2026—starting with a series of strikes aimed at inducing regime change and targeting the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile program—Iran was under heavy economic sanctions.
Between 2006 and 2010, due to its nuclear non-compliance, the country faced a range of international sanctions, including an arms embargo, trade controls, asset freezes, travel bans, and export restrictions. In 2019 and 2020, existing U.S. sanctions on Iran were extended to cover the country’s finance and banking sector.
The weight of these long-lasting and crushing measures has led the beleaguered Iranian regime, as well as an increasing number of desperate citizens facing persistent inflation, to turn to alternative routes to move and save money, or to make international deals and payments, with the pseudoanonymity and decentralization of the blockchain space appearing to offer a lifeline.
According to a report from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, published on January 15, Iran’s digital asset activity showed significant spikes that corresponded to several major domestic and geopolitical events over the past couple of years, including the Kerman bombings in January 2024, Iran’s missile strikes against Israel in October 2024, and the 12-day Iran–Israel war in June 2025.
The latest conflict is no different, and U.S. authorities have upped their vigilance accordingly to hamper Iran’s use of the blockchain space to avoid sanctions.
In the most recent example, whilst OFAC was able to identify and designate the two blockchain wallets linked to the Iranian regime, it still needed private sector assistance to freeze any funds therein. This was obligingly provided by Tether, the El Salvador-HQ’d entity behind the largest and most widely used stablecoin on the market, USDT.Tether being a good patriot
On April 23, Tether announced that it had supported the U.S. government in freezing $344 million USDT across two addresses, with the freeze executed after the addresses were identified, preventing further movement of funds.
The freeze followed information reportedly shared with Tether by several U.S. authorities about activity tied to unlawful conduct.
“When wallets are identified as connected to sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity, Tether can move to restrict those assets,” said the company. “That work has become a routine part of the company’s response to lawful requests from authorities in the U.S. and abroad.”
To date, Tether said it had worked with more than 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries, often coordinating directly with investigators during active cases, rather than reacting after funds have been dispersed.
According to the company, this cooperation has supported more than 2,300 cases globally, including over 1,200 tied to U.S. law enforcement, and has led to the freezing of more than $4.4 billion in assets, including over $2.1 billion connected to U.S. authorities.
“USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively.”
He added “that’s a responsibility we take seriously as one of the largest issuers in the market.”
Last week’s coordinated operation is not the first time U.S. authorities have worked with Tether. In February, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) acknowledged Tether’s support with the tracing and seizure of nearly $61 million worth of USDT allegedly associated with the laundering of criminally derived proceeds stolen from victims of cryptocurrency investment scams, commonly known as “pig butchering schemes.”
This followed a case, last June, in which the DOJ thanked Tether for its “proactive assistance” in an investigation that identified $225 million worth of digital assets linked to the theft and laundering of funds from victims of pig butchering schemes; the U.S. Attorney’s Office subsequently filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the funds.
According to Tether, in its comments after last Friday’s freezing of the $344 million worth of digital assets linked to Iran, “those cases, like this one, show that digital assets on public blockchains are not beyond reach when issuers and law enforcement work together.”
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