Trump admin targets one of Russia’s largest banks for supporting Iran

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration targeted one of Russia’s largest banks on Monday for its alleged support for Iran – the latest move in its pressure campaign against Tehran.

The United States previously sanctioned VTB Bank in February 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and again in January 2025 for Russian sanctions evasion efforts.

Now, the US Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on VTB Bank for allegedly helping Iran to evade sanctions, as the administration seeks to cut off financial support for Tehran as the Iran war drags on.

“The United States sanctioned VTB Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, for helping Iran evade sanctions and sustain its support for terrorism,” the State Department said Monday. “VTB Bank opened offices in Iran, built banking ties with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions, and worked to move billions of dollars in Iranian assets.”

“VTB is now among the most comprehensively sanctioned financial institutions in the world,” the Treasury Department said in a separate press release Monday.

There are more than 1,000 VTB Bank branches worldwide, including in China – one of Iran’s most important economic partners. Experts and foreign diplomats have expressed skepticism that the US will act directly against Beijing, especially ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s expected visit to Washington this month.

In its announcement Monday, the US Treasury Department noted that “foreign financial institutions that continued to deal with VTB following its designation under OFAC’s Iran sanctions authorities are exposed to even more sanctions risk than before and should cut off those relationships immediately.”

Foreign institutions had already been exposed to secondary sanctions, which were imposed under the Biden administration. However, the Trump administration believes the threat of secondary sanctions will be taken more seriously now that VTB has also been sanctioned under Iran-related authorities.

As part of its latest economic pressure campaign, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” the administration has threatened potentially dire economic consequences for those supporting Iran, including cutting them off from the US dollar system.

The Treasury Department said Monday it would meet this week “with global financial institutions to arm them with the information they need to shut down revenue streams and procurement networks tied to the Iranian regime, the IRGC, Iran’s terrorist proxies, and their enablers.” It is one of several engagements between the Treasury Department and foreign financial institutions to discuss the pressure campaign and warn of the risks.

Last week, the US took sweeping actions against Iran’s airline industry. In the weeks prior, the US also imposed sanctions on a Turkish bank and the Dubai branch manager of Iran’s biggest bank, and proposed cutting off the United Arab Emirates branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second largest bank, from the US financial market.

Still, experts and diplomats have questioned the overall impact the flow of new sanctions campaign will have on Tehran, which has withstood decades of economic pressure.

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