The US Department of the Treasury is imposing sanctions on A7 Network, a Russia-linked shadow banking network that, according to US authorities, has been used by Iran and other actors to circumvent sanctions and move money through the international financial system. This is stated in a press release.
FinCEN, an agency within the Treasury Department, is simultaneously proposing that US financial institutions be prohibited from facilitating payments linked to the network’s sub-agents. According to the agency’s investigation, these handled more than 17 billion dollars between January 2025 and June 2026. A7 itself stated that the network handled more than 2,000 transactions per day in January 2026, corresponding to a total transaction volume of around 91.5 billion dollars.
The US points, among other things, to links to Iran’s central bank, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian oil trading and weapons procurement. OFAC is simultaneously designating A7 as a significant transnational criminal organization, which means that the network’s assets under US jurisdiction are blocked.
