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US Sanctions Turkish Bank Over Alleged Iran Oil Revenue Scheme
Summary
The U.S. Treasury Department has placed a Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries on its sanctions list, alleging they helped Iran transfer oil revenues. The move is part of a broader U.S. campaign to exert economic pressure on Tehran.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned a Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries, accusing them of facilitating Iran's efforts to move oil revenues and evade international financial restrictions. The action represents the latest step in a concerted U.S. campaign to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Sanctions Target Shadow Banking Network
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Istanbul-based Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi and its subsidiaries, asset manager Golden Global Portfoy Yonetimi and asset leasing firm Golden Global Varlik Kiralama, to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. This designation effectively cuts the entities off from the U.S. dollar-based financial system.
According to a Treasury statement, the bank was established to enable Iran’s “shadow banking network” to transfer oil proceeds from China to Turkey. The U.S. alleges that Golden Global knowingly provided correspondent banking services to Iranian financial institutions, enabling transactions for accounts linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The Treasury also issued a general license to permit the winding down of transactions with the newly sanctioned entities. Golden Global is the 35th-largest bank in Turkey, with total assets of 25.02 billion Turkish lira (approximately $516.63 million) in 2025, according to TheBanks.EU database.
AdA Campaign of Economic Pressure
The sanctions are part of what U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently termed an “economic onslaught” against Iran's global financial connections. In an interview with America’s Voice News, Bessent stated the action is “code for you are out of business,” adding, “we will probably sanction another bank next week.”
This follows a move last week where Washington imposed Patriot Act restrictions on the United Arab Emirates branches of Egyptian lender Banque Misr over their dealings with Iran. Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and managing principal of Obsidian Risk Advisors, questioned the new measure's ultimate impact.
“The sanctioning of Golden Global will marginally increase pressure on Iran. But hurting Iran and changing the outcome of this war are two very different things,” Erickson said. He warned that such actions risk “daring Iran to retaliate in ways that could inflict far greater damage on the global economy.”
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