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A Wall Street Journal investigation titled “How Billions in Iranian Money Passes Through U.S. Banks” detailed how Iranian funds continue moving through clearing accounts at American banks each year despite sanctions barring most financial activity linked to Tehran. Western officials and researchers told the newspaper that Iran reaches those accounts through foreign partners in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and China that maintain longstanding correspondent relationships with U.S. institutions. The century-old correspondent banking system ties global finance together yet opens pathways for Tehran to access dollars indirectly while concealing origins through shell companies and front entities. Treasury figures cited in the report placed the total at about $9 billion in Iranian-related activity that moved through American banks in 2024 alone.
According to the Treasury Department, the UAE arm of Egypt’s state-owned Banque Misr routed as much as $1.8 billion for 103 companies potentially linked to Iranian shadow-banking networks in the period from January 2024 through June 2026. Several of those companies appeared to function as fronts for Iran’s Defense Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The branch held U.S. dollar correspondent accounts at three American banks, which the Treasury did not name though Banque Misr’s website lists JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup among its relationships. FinCEN assessments found the UAE unit operated as a key node allowing sanctioned Iranian entities to handle oil sale proceeds and procure restricted technology.
The Treasury Department issued a notice on Aug. 28 proposing to designate Banque Misr’s UAE branch a primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. That designation would bar U.S. banks from maintaining correspondent accounts for the branch going forward. A related FinCEN analysis of suspicious activity reports highlighted how Iranian exchange houses rely on overseas shells in the UAE and Hong Kong to launder funds and evade detection in the U.S. financial system.
U.S. officials told the Journal that identifying these flows proves difficult because Iran deploys layered corporate structures to mask connections to sanctioned parties. The shadow banking setup enables Tehran to monetize petroleum exports and support military programs along with regional proxies. Researchers have indicated that stricter monitoring by U.S. lenders of their foreign correspondent relationships could shrink the scale of such activity.
The Trump administration has pursued aggressive measures to isolate Iran financially, including an Aug. 7 Treasury action that dismantled multiple clandestine currency networks spanning several countries and moving hundreds of millions of dollars. Those steps targeted exchange houses and affiliated firms helping repatriate oil revenues for entities such as the National Iranian Oil Company. The latest proposal against Banque Misr fits into that pattern yet underscores persistent gaps in blocking dollar access through third-party intermediaries.
Financial experts quoted in the Journal report cautioned that enforcement efforts may achieve only limited results unless American banks face heightened requirements to scrutinize correspondent clients more thoroughly. The system, which has operated for more than a century, facilitates legitimate cross-border trade but creates vulnerabilities that Iranian networks have exploited. Treasury data from 2024 and the subsequent enforcement notice together illustrate both the scale of the challenge and ongoing attempts to address it.
