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The United States on Monday sanctioned VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest bank, accusing the lender of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions and move billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
"VTB Bank opened offices in Iran, built banking ties with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions, and worked to move billions of dollars in Iranian assets," the State Department said in a statement.
The department added that Washington remains focused on cutting off financial channels that allow the Iranian regime to fund terrorism, destabilize the region, and threaten U.S. economic security.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent linked the latest action to Operation Economic Outcast, an initiative announced last month as part of a broader U.S. effort to disrupt the financial networks supporting Iran.
"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," Bessent said in a statement.
"Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran's enablers," he added.
VTB is Russia’s second-largest bank, with 35.6 trillion rubles ($421.3 billion) in assets, and one of the country’s most important state-controlled financial institutions. The lender serves corporate and retail customers and maintains financial relationships beyond Russia, giving it a significant role in the country’s banking system.
The bank has operated under extensive U.S. restrictions since 2022, when Washington imposed full blocking measures on VTB following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, freezing its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and cutting it off from the U.S. financial system.
In March 2022, the European Union removed VTB from the SWIFT financial messaging system along with six other Russian banks, limiting its ability to conduct international payments through the network. The EU later expanded its restrictions on Russian banks, including transaction bans covering more than 100 lenders.
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