This action follows a Reuters investigation published on July 31, which identified the Dubai-based exchange, Shelbit, as central to a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion network. The probe revealed Shelbit moved crypto for Iran’s central bank, a major illegal online gambling operation, and addresses linked by the Israeli government to the IRGC. The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned Siavash Kayvanpour, the expatriate Iranian founder of Shelbit and its associated companies, for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Additionally, the Treasury announced sanctions against Aban Tether, an Iran-based crypto exchange, for processing millions in transactions for sanctioned Iranian entities, including Nobitex. Reuters reported that tens of millions of dollars in crypto passing through Shelbit originated from a suspected Iranian bitcoin mining operation.