US Imposes Sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei's 'Key Financier'
The United States government has imposed economic sanctions on an Iranian businessman based in Dubai, who is accused of embezzling billions of dollars of public funds to enrich the “regime elite” in Tehran, Iran.
The Iranian national, named Ali Ansari, was described in a US Treasury Department statement as the “principal financier” of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei.
According to the US Treasury Department, “Ansari has effectively institutionalised large-scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime, diverting publicly funded wealth into extensive property portfolios and commercial holdings abroad.”
The scheme was intended “to enrich himself and the regime elite”, including those in the supreme leader’s office and the influential Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to the US Treasury Department, which administers US economic sanctions, Ansari embezzled the Iranian people’s money and invested it in residential and commercial property in Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
The global network of shell companies was said to operate under a holding company established in 2011 in the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
“Although under Ansari’s name, many of these financial interests are ultimately held for the financial benefit of Mojtaba Khamenei, his family and other Iranian elites within the regime,” the US Treasury Department said, as reported by the AFP news agency on Saturday (11/7/2026).
Enforcement actions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), such as the one taken against Ansari, typically result in the freezing of any assets held in the United States.
The measure also prohibits American companies and citizens from doing business with the sanctioned individual, or risk being sanctioned themselves.
Mojtaba Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in a US and Israeli air strike on 28 February.
OFAC also took action against three currency exchange companies based in Iran, accused of moving billions of dollars a year for sanctioned Iranian banks through layers of shell companies.
The three firms are Mohammad Darbani and Partners, Lavasani and Partners, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners.
“By targeting these networks, the United States is directly disrupting the regime’s ability to access foreign currency and conduct international financial activity,” said US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott in a separate statement.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated sharply once again following the resumption of mutual attacks between the US and Iran this week. US President Donald Trump even asserted that the ceasefire between the two arch-enemies has ended.