ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US Treasury Department said Friday it has proposed cutting Banque Misr UAE off from US banks and sanctioned the manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch, accusing both of helping Iran access the international financial system.

Treasury said in a press release that Banque Misr UAE processed approximately $1.8 billion for 103 companies “potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks” between January 2024 and June 2026, calling the bank “a critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to U.S. dollars.”

The proposed measure would revoke the bank’s correspondent banking access to US financial institutions, effectively restricting its ability to conduct transactions through the US financial system.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department was taking “the first step in holding it [Banque Misr UAE] accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime.”

Treasury said the bank’s customers include “apparent front companies” allegedly used by Iran’s defense ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to evade US sanctions and “to launder money on behalf” of the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also sanctioned Reza Mohammad Taeedi, manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch, as well as Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited, which it said helped launder funds for a sanctioned Iranian exchange house.

Treasury said Bank Melli has facilitated billions of dollars in transactions through accounts controlled by the IRGC’s Quds Force, allowing the group to move funds inside and outside Iran.

It also sanctioned Iranian exchange house Pedram Pirouzan Exchange House, which Treasury accused of helping “to launder money” for Iran.

The measures come as Washington has intensified its economic campaign against Tehran.

On Monday, Treasury announced new economic measures against Iran, expanding its Tehran-related secondary sanctions to target five “critical” sectors, to cut “every economic life” of the Islamic republic.

The latest measures come six months into the US-Iran conflict, which began in late February with a series of US-Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran’s leadership and its nuclear and missile programs, prompting retaliatory Iranian strikes across the region, before turning into economic warfare after Tehran restricted access to the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The Treasury has regularly sanctioned entities and individuals it accuses of facilitating the movement of foreign currency into Iran.