U.S. Sanctions Turkish Bank for Facilitating Funds to Iran's Revolutionary Guard

The Treasury Department on Friday announced sanctions against a small Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries, which the U.S. accuses of facilitating funds for an arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

The action against Golden Global Bank makes it the second financial institution to be targeted under "Operation Economic Outcast," the Trump administration's attempt to isolate Tehran by sanctioning its business partners.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, "While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime."

"We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake," Bessent said.

Golden Global Bank did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

President Donald Trump has hyped the sanctions operation as an "economic D-Day" of unprecedented scope and intensity, but Treasury has so far taken few actions to implement the plan since its Aug. 24 launch.

The U.S. has yet to take tangible action against China, Iran's largest trading partner and its top oil buyer. While Bessent insists Beijing is not exempt from potential sanctions, he has also pushed back on the idea that the plan only works if China is on board. Some geopolitics experts are skeptical that the U.S. will risk upending its fragile relations with China, at least before Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.

Friday's sanctions move targets Turkey's 35th-largest bank, with 2025 assets roughly equivalent to $517 million in today's dollars, according to TheBanks.eu.

A week earlier, Treasury moved to sanction the United Arab Emirates branch of an Egyptian bank over its financial ties to Iran. The European Union has expressed support for Operation Economic Outcast and this week formally joined the campaign.

The new sanctions cover Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi and its subsidiaries Golden Global Varlik Kiralama Anonim Sirketi and Golden Global Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi.

The firms "have facilitated tens of millions of dollars' worth of transactions" for the Revolutionary Guard's expeditionary arm known as the Quds Force, and "provide the Iranian regime with key correspondent banking access that allows it to move its funds internationally," Treasury said in a press release.

Golden Global was "established for the purpose of enabling Iran's rahbar network to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where it could then be converted to cash and gold by rahbar money exchangers," according to Treasury. The rahbar network is the shadow banking and financial apparatus utilized by the regime.

The bank "has knowingly offered to provide correspondent banking services to Iranian financial institutions," the department said.