US issues new Iran-related sanctions

The US Treasury Department on Friday issued new Iran-related sanctions amid renewed hostilities following Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement that it had designated Ali Ansari, who it linked to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with several so-called "shadow exchange houses" operating out of Tehran and Shiraz.

Among those added to the Specially Designated Nationals List were the Mohammad Darbani and Partners Exchange, the Mohsen Khandan and Partners Exchange, and the Lavasani and Partners Exchange, all general partnership companies OFAC said were based in Iran.

The agency also designated Smart Global Limited, a holding company registered in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, describing it as linked to Ansari.