Defense Minister Israel Katz has issued sanctions against 37 cryptocurrency wallets associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, his office announced on Wednesday.
These funds, totaling approximately NIS 24 million, were used to fund various Iranian terror proxies, including Hezbollah. Further investigation uncovered the fact that tens of millions of dollars were funneled to terror organizations through these crypto wallets over the past several years.
"The campaign against Iran is not only being waged on the battlefield - but also in the fight for the money that drives terrorism," Katz said.
"Every dollar that is kept from the IRGC is a dollar that will not reach Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Iran’s terrorist proxies. We will continue to target all the financing routes of the Iranian terrorist axis, everywhere and by any means.”
US imposes sanctions targeting Iran's covert 'shadow banking' financial network
This comes several weeks after the US launched Operation Economic Fury, which aimed to disrupt Iran's shadow banking networks and has frozen nearly half a billion dollars' worth of cryptocurrency linked to Iran's regime.
Iranian "shadow banking" networks allow the regime to evade sanctions, despite the US "maximum pressure" campaign against the Islamic Republic, according to the US State Department.
Most US Treasury sanctions are imposed on individuals, companies, and other entities that are added to its Specially Designated Nationals List, which contains tens of thousands of designees that are cut off from the dollar-based financial system and see assets frozen. Anyone who transacts with designated entities risks being sanctioned themselves.
"To sharpen national security outcomes, Treasury is tailoring our sanctions program for the 21st century. We are reviewing outdated and obsolete designations to help financial institutions focus on the most sophisticated terrorist financing and sanctions evasion schemes," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters in May.