U.S. sanctions announced Friday, Nov. 6, target eight Canadian money-service firms over alleged Iran-linked digital-asset dealings and impose blocking and transaction restrictions where U.S. persons or property are involved.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the firms converted Iran’s rial and other currencies into digital assets for international transactions involving Iran. The department also linked their activity to sanctioned Iranian digital-asset exchanges and addresses associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Property belonging to designated parties must be blocked when it is within the United States or controlled by U.S. persons. U.S. persons generally may not transact with those parties unless a transaction is authorized or an exemption applies.
Treasury said it coordinated the designations with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). It also said several firms changed their business names and addresses in an effort to hinder detection and enforcement.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada “cannot be a safe haven” for people providing sanctions-evasion services to Iran’s regime and proxies. He said the United States would pursue and disrupt Iran’s financial channels worldwide.
Treasury said the action follows its sanctions on Iranian digital-asset exchanges in June and August 2026. A separate U.S. sanctions action on Nov. 4 concerned an alleged tanker registry scheme involving people and entities in India, Singapore and Türkiye, as EconoTimes previously reported.
