OFAC Warns Against Payments to Iran Via Digital Assets, Including Strait of Hormuz Fees

According to OFAC on May 2, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control warned that payments demanded by Iran from passing vessels for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz—including fiat currency, digital assets, barter transactions, physical goods, or donations to Iranian Red Crescent, Bonyad Mostazafan, or Iranian embassy accounts—may violate U.S. sanctions against Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). OFAC stated that U.S. persons and foreign entities controlled by U.S. nationals generally cannot transact with the Iranian government, IRGC, or Iranian digital asset exchanges. Non-U.S. entities participating in such payments or assisting Iran’s financial sector may face secondary sanctions or civil and criminal liability.