Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of violating Article 9 of the U.S.-Iran interim agreement signed last month, which stipulates that the United States will not impose any new sanctions on Iran before a final deal is reached.
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A 3D-printed miniature model depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, the Iranian flag and the word “Sanctions” in this illustration created in April 2025. Credit: Dado Ruvic/ REUTERS
A 3D-printed miniature model depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, the Iranian flag and the word “Sanctions” in this illustration created in April 2025. Credit: Dado Ruvic/ REUTERS
The accusation followed the Treasury Department’s announcement Friday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control had sanctioned Dubai-based Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari, whom it said oversees “a sprawling global network of assets benefitting Iran’s leader – Mojtaba Khamenei – and other regime elites.”
“Iran has so far kept its word,” Araghchi wrote on X. “That violation follows other violations and missteps by the United States. Reality check: there can only be mutual compliance.”
Iran has so far kept its word, unlike the so-called U.S. Treasury Secretary who is violating Para 9 of the MoU.
That violation follows other violations and missteps by the United States.
Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance.
In a statement, the Treasury said Ansari had “effectively institutionalized large-scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime,” diverting state wealth into an overseas network of real estate and commercial holdings benefiting himself, regime elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to the statement, the Foreign Assets Control Office targeted key Iranian exchange houses that “move billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks, using layers of shell companies to obscure the regime’s illicit financial activity.”
The statement also said the department sanctioned Iranian exchange houses that reportedly move billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks through layers of shell companies designed to obscure the regime’s financial activity.
“Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system,” Bessent said.