(CNN) - On Monday, the administration of US President Donald Trump targeted one of the largest Russian banks over alleged “support for Iran,” in the latest step in its pressure campaign against Tehran.
The United States previously imposed sanctions on VTB Bank in February 2022 in response to Russia's comprehensive invasion of Ukraine, and again in 2025 due to the bank's efforts to circumvent Russian sanctions.
Now, the US Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on VTB Bank for allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions, as the administration seeks to cut off financial support to Tehran as the Iran-related war continues.
The US State Department said on Monday: “The United States imposed sanctions on VTB Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in Russia, for helping Iran evade sanctions and continue its support for terrorism, as the bank opened offices in Iran, established banking relationships with Iranian financial institutions subject to sanctions, and worked to transfer billions of dollars of Iranian assets.”
In a separate press release issued Monday, the Treasury Department said, “VTB Bank is now among the most comprehensively sanctioned financial institutions in the world.”
VTB Bank has more than 1,000 branches around the world, including in China, which is one of Iran's most important economic partners.
Foreign experts and diplomats expressed skepticism that the United States would take direct measures against Beijing, especially ahead of the expected visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the US capital, Washington, this month.
In its announcement on Monday, the US Treasury Department indicated that “foreign financial institutions that continued to deal with VTB Bank after it was designated under the powers of the Office of Foreign Assets Control related to sanctions on Iran now face greater risks of sanctions being imposed on them than they were previously, and must end those relationships immediately.”
Foreign institutions were already vulnerable to secondary sanctions imposed during the administration of former President Joe Biden. However, the Trump administration believes that the threat of secondary sanctions will be taken seriously now that VTB Bank is subject to sanctions under Iran-related authorities as well.
As part of its latest economic pressure campaign, dubbed Operation “Economic Pariah,” the administration has threatened to impose potentially dire economic consequences on those who support Iran, including isolating it from the US dollar-based financial system.
The US Treasury Department announced on Monday that it will hold meetings this week “with global financial institutions to provide them with the information necessary to cut off revenue sources and purchasing networks linked to the Iranian regime, the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s terrorist agents, and the parties that enable them.”
This step is one of a series of meetings between the Ministry of Treasury and foreign financial institutions to discuss the pressure campaign and warn of the risks resulting from it.
Last week, the United States took wide-ranging measures targeting the Iranian aviation sector.
In the weeks preceding that, Washington imposed sanctions on a Turkish bank and the director of the Dubai branch of the largest Iranian bank, and also proposed isolating the branches of the “Bank of Egypt” - the second largest Egyptian bank - located in the UAE from the American financial system.
However, experts and diplomats have questioned the extent of the actual impact that this new wave of sanctions will have on Tehran, which has previously withstood decades of economic pressure.
