On August 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a series of enforcement actions under Operation Economic Outcast targeting Banque Misr’s UAE operations, an institution the Department identified as a significant conduit for Iranian access to U.S. dollar banking channels. The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule that would strip the bank of its ability to maintain correspondent banking relationships with American financial institutions. According to Department estimates, the bank facilitated roughly $1.8 billion in transactions between January 2024 and June 2026, on behalf of more than a hundred companies with suspected ties to Iranian shadow banking networks. Iran reportedly relies on these networks to move money across borders, acquire weapons, and finance terrorist proxy groups in the region.
On the same day, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the general manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch, Reza Mohammad Taeedi, pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order 13224, as amended, for his role in facilitating the bank’s operations on behalf of sanctioned entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF). OFAC also sanctioned Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited, a front company that allegedly helped a sanctioned Iranian exchange house launder funds through international financial channels. The company was sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy. These actions form part of Operation Economic Outcast, a broader campaign announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on August 24, 2026, which aims to dismantle the financial infrastructure sustaining the Iranian regime by expanding secondary sanctions exposure and accelerating enforcement against any entity enabling Iranian sanctions evasion.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release