Ali Ansari
Dubai-based financier designated by the US Treasury's OFAC on 10 July 2026 as 'Linked To: KHAMENEI, Mojtaba' and the IRGC, the first Treasury action naming Iran's Supreme Leader directly.
Last refreshed: 15 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did the US Treasury sanction a Dubai financier tied to Khamenei's son?
Timeline for Ali Ansari
designated as linked to Mojtaba Khamenei and the IRGC
Iran Conflict 2026: OFAC names Khamenei's money man in DubaiWho is Ali Ansari, the financier sanctioned by the US Treasury?
Why did OFAC sanction Ali Ansari?
When was Ali Ansari designated by the US Treasury?
Background
OFAC designated Dubai-based financier Ali Ansari on 10 July 2026 as 'Linked To: KHAMENEI, Mojtaba' and the IRGC, the first Treasury action naming Mojtaba Khamenei directly. He was named alongside a cluster of Shiraz and Tehran currency-exchange houses and CDM Trading Limited, a Hong Kong trading company, with OFAC issuing Iran General License Y to permit the wind-down of transactions with one of the designated entities, Smart Global Limited.
Ansari holds dual Cypriot and St Kitts and Nevis nationality and operates from Dubai, a base that has long served Iranian-linked financiers seeking distance from direct US jurisdiction while remaining within reach of Gulf banking channels.
The designation sits inside a continuous Treasury sanctions campaign against Iran's shadow financial architecture that has, over preceding months, reached from currency-exchange networks to Chinese and Hong Kong intermediaries. Naming a figure linked directly to Mojtaba Khamenei marks a deliberate escalation, targeting money believed to move closest to the centre of Iran's leadership rather than its outer trading networks.