A report prepared by Democrats in the US Senate, and published today, Monday, showed that the stable currency “USDT” affiliated with “Tether” has become an “important financial lifeline” for Iran and a tool for financing groups allied with it, such as the Lebanese “Hezbollah” group.
The report analyzed 846 cryptocurrency wallets that were subject to Israeli and American sanctions for their connection to Iran. The report was led by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
The report concluded that 84 percent of transactions were made in USDT, to help the Iranian government transfer money across its borders and support its currency under sanctions through means including the Central Bank of Iran.
Blumenthal said in a statement that the report “reveals how Tether and its main digital currency have become essential components of Iran’s parallel banking system,” allowing the Iranian government to finance a range of activities. He called on the Treasury and Justice Departments to investigate Tether.
USDT is the largest dollar-backed stablecoin in the world. Tether said, in a statement, that it is committed to cooperating with the government, and announced that it supported the freezing of approximately $550 million in USDT currency linked to Iran in 2026.
“The company has consistently proven that USDT is not a haven for sanctioned entities, terrorist organizations, or criminal networks,” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in the statement.
The Treasury Department intensified sanctions on Iran following the military campaign against the Islamic Republic this year.
Last month, the ministry launched “Operation Economic Exclusion,” which focused specifically on cryptocurrency transactions.
Iranians wishing to travel often faced difficulties, but the recent US sanctions on the aviation sector stopped flights almost completely, and led many, exhausted by months of war, to feel trapped as they tried to travel.
Among them is Mitra (49 years old), who intended to travel to Paris via Istanbul with her brother, but is now forced to undertake an arduous journey overland to reach Türkiye.
“Some airlines are still selling tickets, but flights are constantly cancelled,” this woman told reporters at Agence France-Presse in Paris, requesting that a pseudonym be used. “It literally makes us feel completely trapped.”
She adds: “When we were informed of the suspension of flights, we decided to travel to Istanbul by land,” by paying about $75 to travel to the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran, and move from there by land to the Turkish city of Van adjacent to the border, where you will also have to book a hotel to stay.
“All we can hope for at this stage is to be able to get out,” Mitra says anxiously. They may close the land borders.”
Iranians have been living for decades under the weight of internal and external sanctions and restrictions, and starting last week, Washington placed the entire Iranian air transport sector under sanctions, as part of its attempt to stifle the local economy in the midst of the war it began with Israel against Tehran last February.
With the entry into force of the sanctions, Iranians who had previously purchased tickets to regional countries such as Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Oman found that their reservations were canceled without warning.
Obstacles
A journalist at Agence France-Presse described a state of chaos that prevailed at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran after a flight to Dubai was cancelled. After the passengers were preparing for the flight, some carried their bags and left the airport, while many gathered at the ticket counters and directed a stream of questions to the employees, none of whom knew whether the flight would take off at a later time, or would take off at all.
The UAE, Georgia and Azerbaijan officially confirmed the suspension of flights, while a travel agent in Tehran told Agence France-Presse that flights to Baghdad, Muscat and Qatar were also stopped.
In addition to the difficulties in terms of travel, Iranians have long suffered, since before the outbreak of the last war, with cumbersome visa procedures and expensive tickets.
Demand 'very high'
Passengers reported that the departure permits for some flights were withdrawn less than an hour before their scheduled time, and after the passengers had completed security and passport procedures.
Iranian officials reported that last week, a plane was forced to turn around while heading to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Turkmenistan refused to allow it to cross its airspace.
After the cancellation of the Dubai flight, the attention of passengers at Imam Khomeini Airport quickly turned to a destination to which flights were still available: Türkiye.
Some were able to reserve a seat on the few flights that were still departing to the neighboring country, including Shirin (31 years old), who said at Istanbul airport while waiting for a flight to Toronto, Canada: “The situation is strange and very disturbing; Because the number of flights is much less than it was, and the possibility of cancellation is very high.
She adds: “There are no seats available because the demand is very high,” stressing that her health condition prevents her from traveling by land, and left her with no choice but to travel from Iran to Türkiye by air.
Sanctions have been affecting the Iranian aviation sector for years, to varying degrees. It is not yet clear how much countries will adhere to the new American emphasis. Some destinations are still available, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, Malaysia and Thailand.
But as seats on rare departing flights filled up quickly, others found themselves stuck, scrambling to find alternative solutions.
Even those who were able to propose a solution do not hide their disappointment in this new reality.
Mitra says she and her brother will have to spend hours on the road and in a hotel, and spend hundreds of additional dollars.
She adds: “It is difficult for us to accept that... what was supposed to be a simple flight turned into such a long and arduous journey.”
