World News
Iran’s Terror Currency: How Tehran Uses Crypto to Fund Hezbollah
A report by Democratic senators says Iran has used Tether’s USDT cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and fund terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, as U.S. pressure on Tehran continues to intensify.
Illustration (Photo: Miriam Alster, Flash90)The Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday) that Democratic senators in the United States are expected to publish a special report finding that Iran has made extensive use of Tether’s USDT cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions. The currency has become a central means of payment for the Iranian regime and a tool for funding proxy organizations, including Hezbollah.
The report comes as the United States continues trying to tighten economic pressure on Tehran. As previously reported, The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that Iranian airlines were cut off from major regional air routes, while the country’s leading commercial bank was barred from conducting transactions in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
In addition, senior U.S. Treasury officials met in Europe and Middle Eastern countries with representatives of nations that trade with Iran. The Americans made clear to those countries that they must “choose between continuing trade with Tehran and their economic ties with Washington.”
