The US has added VTB to the Iran-related sanctions list
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added VTB, Russia's second-largest bank by assets, to the Iran-related sanctions list. Washington accuses the bank of facilitating the circumvention of existing restrictions against Iran.
The US has added VTB to the Iran-related sanctions list
According to information released by the US Department of the Treasury on September 14, Russia's VTB Bank has been included in the list under Iran-related sanctions.
The American side explained the sanctions by VTB's participation in financial transactions aimed at bypassing the restrictions imposed on Iran.
According to the US Department of the Treasury, VTB opened its representative offices in Iran, conducted settlements with sanctioned Iranian banks, and participated in transactions related to the transfer of billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets.
It is also reported that the bank established a settlement system in national currencies in order to expand trade between Russia and Iran. This mechanism allowed transactions to be carried out through correspondent accounts opened in Iranian rials and Russian rubles.
VTB has faced US sanctions before. In July 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea, sectoral sanctions were imposed on the bank.
In February 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, Washington imposed blocking sanctions against VTB.
Now, the bank has also been included in the US sanctions list on grounds related to financial cooperation with Iran and assisting in bypassing the sanctions imposed on Tehran.