The U.S. Treasury is calling for whistleblowers to come forward with tips on individuals or entities providing financial support to Iran.
“The United States remains steadfast in cutting off the financial lifelines that allow the Iranian regime to fund terrorism, destabilize the region, and threaten U.S. economic security,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Monday.
The bulletin noted that the department maintained a whistleblower incentive program for people to submit information regarding violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Both U.S. and non-U.S. whistleblowers were encouraged to submit tips regarding entities and individuals that might be violating sanctions, including the use of Iranian proxies and facilitators operating outside of Iran.
Under the Treasury’s program, whistleblowers who voluntarily provide information on sanctions violations or conspiracies to commit sanctions violations could receive financial compensation if the information results in successful enforcement actions.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in a Sept. 14 statement on X that he was issuing a new call for whistleblowers to “come forward with tips about those who facilitate Iran’s terror.”
“To anyone worldwide with information on these lifelines: This is your chance. If you have actionable information for Treasury, you may be eligible for an award, no matter where you live or who signs your paycheck. If you see something, say something,” he wrote.
The call for whistleblowers to come forward with information on Iran’s financial lifelines came after the Trump administration launched Operation Economic Outcast last month.
The operation aims to isolate Tehran’s economy by cutting off any financial lifelines that support the regime after months of military conflict between the United States and Iran.
Examples of potential Iranian sanctions evasion shared by the Treasury last week include irregularities in shipping documentation hiding links to Iran, unusual use of exchange houses, and payments to or from digital asset exchanges or service providers in Iran.
Other examples include unusual digital asset payments by shipping, trading, petroleum, or trust companies; shipping companies with Iranian counterparties; and unregistered peer-to-peer exchanges, nested digital asset exchanges, and foreign businesses providing money services.
The Treasury also announced on Monday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control was imposing sanctions against VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company, a prominent Russian financial institution, for helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions.
VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company opened offices in Iran in recent years to expand trade between Russia and Iran and to formalize closer banking coordination with Tehran, the Treasury said.
Over the past three years, the Russian financial institution allegedly established correspondent banking relationships with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
The Russian bank also allegedly began working to increase its presence in Tehran in January 2025.
The Treasury accused VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company of taking steps to move billions of frozen Iranian assets.
According to the department, the Russian bank also attempted to increase bilateral trade by developing a settlement system for national currencies.
“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,” Bessent said.
“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
The Treasury said the department will meet with global financial institutions this week to give them the information needed to shut down procurement networks and revenue streams linked to the Iranian regime, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian terrorist proxy groups, and Iran’s enablers.
“Today’s action sends a clear message to governments and financial institutions considering similar arrangements: any effort to help Iran evade sanctions will carry serious consequences, including exposure to U.S. financial restrictions,” Pigott said.
The United States will continue to use economic and diplomatic tools to isolate Tehran, he said, and called on the international community to join the United States in severing Iran’s financial lifelines.
In response to the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late August accused the United States of unlawful sanctions.
“The U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, regardless of their name and title, are completely illegal and unjustified measures that violate the U.N. Charter, international humanitarian law, and human rights,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.
The Iranian regime said that participating in the U.S. sanctions targeting Iran was “tantamount to complicity in imposing the illegal will of a state on independent states and disrupting their legitimate economic and trade relations.”
