US Treasury Sanctions 8 Canadian Firms and MEXC Platform for Facilitating Iran Transactions

The US Department of the Treasury announced on Friday that it had imposed financial sanctions on eight Canada-based financial services companies, stating they facilitated transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities.

The department wrote via its account on the "X" platform: "Today, as part of the Economic Outcast operation, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated eight financial services companies headquartered in Canada that work to enable the Iranian regime."

It continued: "In addition, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an order effectively cutting off access by the MEXC Global platform to the US financial system, due to its facilitation of illicit transactions worth at least $16 billion, including activities related to circumventing sanctions imposed on Iran."

These sanctions effectively isolate these companies from the dollar-based financial system, freeze any assets they may hold in the United States, and prohibit any transactions with US persons or entities.

This is the latest action in a series of steps taken by the Treasury against companies outside the United States that it says help Iran evade US sanctions, as Washington continues to pressure Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: "Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial intermediaries providing sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies. The Treasury will pursue and disrupt the Iranian regime's financial channels anywhere in the world."

The Treasury stated that its FinCEN division also issued an order removing cryptocurrency trading firm MEXC from the US financial system due to transactions it says are linked to evading sanctions imposed on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

FinCEN, the Treasury's anti-money laundering unit, noted that the order prohibits US financial institutions from processing money transfers involving Seychelles-registered MEXC Global, which it says facilitated illicit transactions linked to Iran, North Korea, and Russia totaling at least $16 billion, as well as transactions with other sanctioned parties.