OFAC expands Iran digital-asset sanctions authority and suspends remittance license
The sector determination and remittance-license suspension are separate parts of the August 24 Iran action.
The US Treasury announced nearly 60 Iran-linked sanctions targets on August 24, 2026, under Operation Economic Outcast. On the same day, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended Executive Order 13902 to people determined to operate in the digital-asset, aviation, gold, shipping, or technology sectors of the Iranian economy. The determination expands OFAC’s authority; it does not automatically sanction every crypto exchange or transaction.
What crypto businesses need to distinguish
OFAC had already designated several Iranian digital-asset exchanges before this August 24 action. Its published guidance says foreign financial institutions and other non-US persons who transact with designated exchanges may face sanctions under defined circumstances. Examples include materially assisting a designated exchange or knowingly facilitating a significant transaction for it. That is narrower than saying any platform that touches a sanctioned person’s transaction automatically faces penalties.
Treasury’s August 24 release also identifies a concrete crypto link: sanctioned oil broker Ivan Obukhov allegedly processed more than $100 million in cryptocurrency payments since 2023 to facilitate sales for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Treasury designated Obukhov under a separate counterterrorism authority, Executive Order 13224. The new digital-asset sector determination and individual designations should not be conflated.
Separate change to remittances
OFAC suspended five general licenses, including a regulation that had authorized certain noncommercial personal remittances to or from Iran. The same notice lists educational, conference, and sports activities. General License BB allowed qualifying transactions already underway to wind down through September 8, 2026, subject to its conditions. After that date, the suspended authorizations do not apply unless OFAC grants another authorization.
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The earlier version of this article stated possible sanctions exposure for every exchange, custodian, or decentralized-finance protocol that processed a transaction involving a designated party. OFAC’s guidance describes particular conduct and authorities instead. This correction also separates the August 24 sector determination from previously designated exchanges and from the remittance-license changes.