Iran disguises transactions through front companies and foreign partners
The U.S. Treasury identified about $9 billion in Iranian funds that moved through American banks in 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported on September 6, as fighting between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the Strait of Hormuz and the Trump administration tightened economic pressure on the country.
The figure points to what the Journal described as a weak link in the U.S.-led effort to cut off Iranian financial activity. Billions of dollars in Iranian-linked funds continue to move through U.S. lenders each year despite the sanctions campaign, the newspaper reported.
Journal reporters Rory Jones and Dylan Tokar described how Iran exploits the American banking system and why stopping the flow is difficult, according to the newsletter. The Journal’s newsletter summary did not include direct quotations from the reporters or from Treasury officials.
Iran routes the funds through “foreign partners, front companies and other means to disguise the transactions, making them difficult to detect,” the Journal reported.
The disclosure comes as fighting between the U.S. and Iran escalates over the Strait of Hormuz, the Journal reported.
The Journal’s newsletter summary did not detail how Treasury distinguishes Iranian-linked funds from other international transactions in its data, nor what portion of the identified $9 billion was flagged, blocked, or penalized once identified. The newsletter also did not name which U.S. lenders processed the largest share of the identified funds or whether any specific banks faced enforcement action in connection with the 2024 flows.