US hits Mojtaba Khamenei-linked financier with fresh Iran sanctions

The United States on Friday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting a key financier linked to Iran’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and 13 other individuals and entities, as Washington stepped up efforts to isolate Tehran’s ruling establishment following Iran’s renewed attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Treasury Department said the sanctions target Ali Ansari, an Iranian banker and businessman based in Dubai, whom Britain had previously sanctioned for financially supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other entities. According to the Treasury, Ansari diverted publicly funded wealth into an extensive overseas portfolio of real estate…