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U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack stressed Saturday that the latest U.S. sanctions against a Türkiye-based bank do not target Türkiye or its banking system.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Golden Global Bank and two of its subsidiaries on Friday over their alleged role in facilitating financial transactions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
"This designation is aimed at the conduct of one entity, not at a nation, not at a banking system, and not at an ally," Barrack emphasized in a post on X, adding that Treasury and Turkish officials remained in "direct and continuous contact."
Barrack also noted that Turkish authorities had engaged with Washington to clarify the matter and strengthen transparency.
The move follows Operation Economic Outcast, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched in late August as part of a broader campaign to cut off the remaining economic lifelines sustaining the Iranian regime, according to a Treasury statement.
Treasury alleged that Golden Global Bank facilitated tens of millions of dollars in transactions for the IRGC-QF and provided Iranian financial institutions with correspondent banking access that allowed Tehran to move funds internationally.
Treasury alleged Golden Global Bank was established to help Iran’s "rahbar" network transfer oil revenues from China to Türkiye for conversion into cash and gold.
It also alleged that the bank provided correspondent banking services enabling transactions through accounts controlled by the IRGC-QF and its proxies, including Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan and his companies. OFAC sanctioned Ayan’s network in 2022 over alleged IRGC-QF-linked oil sales.
The sanctions block the designated entities’ U.S.-based property and property under U.S. persons’ control, while entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are also subject to sanctions.
Golden Global Bank rejected the allegations, saying the named individuals and entities have never been its customers and that it has had no direct or indirect business relationship with them.
"Our Bank has not conducted any banking transactions that could substantiate the reports referred to above," the bank said in a press release, adding that it has complied with applicable banking rules and completed internal and external audits since launching operations in June 2020.
The bank plans to pursue legal remedies against the U.S. Treasury’s move, which it called "entirely unfounded."
Iran’s embassy in Türkiye also rejected the U.S. justification, calling Operation Economic Outcast a political and economic campaign against Tehran.
"This statement is a clear attempt to conceal the political nature of Washington’s misguided policy of so-called ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ against Iran behind terms such as ‘law enforcement,’ ‘transparency,’ and ‘protection of the international financial system,’" the embassy said in a post on X in response to Barrack’s earlier post.
The embassy argued that the sanctions were based on U.S. domestic law rather than international law and accused Washington of using financial measures to exert political and economic pressure on sovereign states.
Golden Global Bank and its affiliated entities were added to OFAC’s IRAN-EO13902 list, which targets certain sectors of Iran’s economy, including its financial sector. With the latest additions, 11 Türkiye-based individuals and entities are currently listed under the program, according to OFAC’s sanctions search.
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