The United States has placed sanctions on multiple companies and individuals involved in smuggling technology to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which has been designated by the US for its role in providing financial support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hizballah.

The sanctions, implemented by the US Department of the Treasury, target Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), the publicly recognized technology arm of CBI. ISC oversees Iran’s electronic banking clearance network and recently developed the country's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Additionally, two firms based in the United Arab Emirates, one in Turkey, and three individuals have been sanctioned.

One of the targeted entities, UAE-based Advance Banking Solution Trading (ABS), is described by the US as a front company for ISC. ABS is accused of procuring proprietary US goods and technology from more than two dozen companies, both directly and through third-party resellers, for eventual transfer to CBI.

Some of the technology acquired by CBI from American firms includes items classified as information security products subject to national security and anti-terrorism controls by the US.

Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated, "The Central Bank of Iran has played a critical role in providing financial support to the IRGC-QF and Hizballah, two key actors intent on further destabilizing the Middle East. The United States will continue to use all available means to disrupt the Iranian regime’s illicit attempts to procure sensitive US technology and critical inputs."