May 1, 2026 | The National Interest
How Iran’s Leaders Hide Their Billions
The United States and its allies around the world need to coordinate better to uncover Iran’s money laundering schemes.
May 1, 2026 | The National Interest
How Iran’s Leaders Hide Their Billions
The United States and its allies around the world need to coordinate better to uncover Iran’s money laundering schemes.
Excerpt
Iran’s leaders are giving a money-laundering masterclass on using the quirks of geography to jump jurisdictions, evade sanctions, and outwit detection. Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, used these techniques to hide his estimated $3 billion in wealth. At the same time, the Iranian regime leverages the same strategies to move additional billions in illicit oil revenue, used to fund terror and missile attacks across the region.
Criminals love crossing borders. Moving jurisdictions adds layers of opacity and protection. But for governments trying to stop illicit financial flows, national borders are barriers. Foreign laws demand modified approaches, while overseas bureaucracies compound legal hurdles and present opportunities for corruption, obstruction, or delay.
To stop the cash funding strikes on US troops and Gulf allies, the United States must take steps — starting with its own laws — to limit the jurisdictional loopholes that make the cross-border transfer of illicit billions effortless.
When Iran’s supreme leader wanted to launder his stolen billions, he turned to his globetrotting bagman, Ali Ansari. As the front man for an anonymous empire, Ansari’s geographic spiderweb exploits opaque loopholes that add layers of cross-border complexity.
Josh Birenbaum is deputy director of the Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Susan Soh is a research associate with CEFP. Her research focuses on China’s role in the global economy.