US Sanctions Eight Canadian Companies Over Iran Transactions
The Treasury Department announced new penalties Friday on money services it claimed were helping Tehran and individuals with connections to the country exchange Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets. According to a statement from Treasury, some of the entities also worked with Ryan Wedding, a former Olympian accused by the FBI of running one of the world's largest cocaine networks.
The US coordinated the move with Canada's financial intelligence unit, Fintrac, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It is part of a broader US push to isolate Tehran's economy through a renewed push dubbed Operation Economic Outcast.
“Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Fintrac reiterated its commitment to controlling businesses that deal in virtual currencies. It added that it had revoked the registrations of 161 money services businesses in 2026 so far, more than the last three years combined.
It said Canadian legislation limits it from sharing information about compliance actions apart from monetary penalties.
The US and Canada have had an increasingly fraught relationship under the Trump administration, and Bessent has been critical of Canada in recent months amid a trade spat that escalated with retaliatory tariffs. The Treasury chief said Canada has tried to have the benefits of being a US state without being one.
Canada could improve its oversight of non-financial institutions that handle potentially sensitive money, including real estate firms and lawyers. That's according to an evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force, the international body that sets standards to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
--With assistance from Melissa Shin.
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