On Friday, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on eight individuals and six entities that it said are part of a financial network linked to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), simultaneously issuing a general license allowing the termination of existing dealings with one of the listed companies.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the addition of an Iranian businessman, and a company he controls, to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, along with three Iranian exchange houses and their managers, and two companies in Hong Kong and the UAE.

OFAC issued the Iran General License, which allows transactions necessary to wind down existing dealings with the Iranian businessman's company.

The license does not represent a general exemption from sanctions imposed on Iran or a reversal of the company's designation, but rather provides a limited legal period to arrange the exit from existing transactions with it, according to the terms and conditions set by the office.

Investment network for the benefit of the Supreme Leader

The sanctions targeted an Iranian businessman whom Washington accuses of running a vast global network of real estate and business investments for the benefit of the Supreme Leader and a number of senior Iranian officials, extending to Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Cyprus, and other countries.

Britain had previously imposed sanctions on the same Iranian businessman for his role in financial support for the activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with other individuals and entities.

The Treasury Department described the sanctioned Iranian businessman as a 'major financier' for Khamenei, saying he diverted wealth financed from public funds into a broad overseas portfolio of real estate and business holdings, aimed at enriching himself and government elites and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The United States also imposed sanctions on three Iran-based exchange houses, in addition to a number of related shell companies, in a step it said aims to disrupt the Iranian regime's ability to access foreign currencies and conduct international financial activities.

The US State Department affirmed that these measures reflect the Trump administration's commitment to holding accountable all those who contribute to supporting what it described as 'the Iranian regime's corruption and regional aggression,' stressing that 'the United States will continue to impose sanctions on individuals, companies, and financial institutions, including foreign entities, that facilitate illicit trade with Iran, until the Iranian regime halts its destabilizing behavior and exploitation of the Iranian people.'

The new sanctions were announced on a day of relative calm, after renewed fighting this week following Iran's targeting of three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers. The United States bombed Iranian sites, and Iran responded by striking US military positions in Gulf states.