The United States has added VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, to its Iran-related sanctions lists.
This was announced in a press release by the US Department of the Treasury.
“Today, under Operation Economic Outcast, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated prominent Russian financial institution, VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company (VTB Bank) for its involvement in Iranian sanctions evasion, including establishing correspondent relationships with sanctioned Iranian banks,” the Treasury said.
The press release also quoted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who pledged that:
“Under Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to sustain its terrorist enterprise. Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company (VTB Bank), one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, has opened bank offices in Iran in recent years in order to formalize closer banking coordination with the Iranian regime and expand trade between the two countries. Over the past three years, VTB Bank has established correspondent banking relationships with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions and began taking steps to increase its presence in Tehran in January 2025. VTB Bank has taken steps to move billions of frozen Iranian assets and created a settlement system for national currencies through correspondent accounts in Iranian rials and Russian rubles with the goal of increasing bilateral trade.
VTB Bank is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy. VTB Bank was previously designated by OFAC on January 15, 2025 pursuant to E.O. 13662 for operating in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy, and on February 24, 2022 pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Government of Russia and for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.
