By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Russia’s VTB Bank for the third time after the lender attempted to move “billions of frozen Iranian assets”.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said VTB had established correspondent banking relationships with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
“VTB Bank has taken steps to move billions of frozen Iranian assets,” the Treasury said in a statement.
“[It] created a settlement system for national currencies through correspondent accounts in Iranian rials and Russian rubles with the goal of increasing bilateral trade.”
VTB is one of Russia’s largest banks. Over the past three years, it established correspondent relationships with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions, Treasury said.
Additionally, it began taking steps to increase its presence in Iran in early 2025.
The sanctions cut off VTB’s access to the U.S. financial system. They also forbid U.S. persons and businesses from transacting with the lender.
VTB is already cut off from the U.S. In 2022, OFAC sanctioned VTB for its ties to the Russian government. The U.S. also sanctioned VTB again in 2025 for operating in Russia’s financial services sector.
The Treasury said the new sanctions could expose foreign banks and businesses that continue to deal with VTB to additional penalties.
Last month, VTB reported that its July net profit rose 73% year-on-year to 40.4 billion roubles ($469.77 million).
VTB Bank sanctions
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “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.
“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
The Treasury said the latest action makes VTB “one of the most comprehensively sanctioned financial institutions in the world”.
It also warned foreign financial institutions that continue to deal with VTB could face greater sanctions exposure.
Those institutions should cut off their relationships with the Russian bank immediately, Treasury said.
The latest designation follows recent U.S. sanctions targeting banks in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged roles in supporting Iran.
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