The United States has imposed additional sanctions on Russia’s VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company over its alleged involvement in efforts to evade US sanctions on Iran.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added an Iran-related designation for VTB Bank to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) on Monday, September 14.
The designation was made under Executive Order 13902, which authorises sanctions against additional sectors of Iran’s economy and individuals or entities involved in certain transactions with Iran.
VTB is Russia’s second-largest bank and is majority-owned by the Russian state.
The bank has been under extensive US sanctions since 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the measures restricting its access to the US financial system.
The new designation places VTB under the US administration’s Iran-related sanctions programme over its alleged involvement in Iranian sanctions evasion activities.
The action comes as Washington continues to impose sanctions on individuals and entities accused of helping Iran circumvent US restrictions.
