US Treasury Adds Russia's VTB Bank to Iran Sanctions List

The United States Department of the Treasury has placed Russia's VTB Bank on a sanctions list tied to its Iran sanctions program, according to a report by the Russian news agency TASS, which cited the Treasury as its source.

TASS reported that the designation marks the latest in a series of US actions against VTB, one of Russia's largest state-controlled banks. The agency noted that Washington first imposed sectoral sanctions on VTB in 2014, in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine at the time.

Details on the specific rationale for the new Iran-related designation, including which US regulations or executive orders were invoked, were not included in the available report. TASS did not provide further specifics from the Treasury's statement beyond confirming the bank's inclusion on the list.

VTB has been a recurring target of US and Western sanctions over the past decade, with measures expanding significantly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bank has previously been subject to restrictions limiting its access to US financial markets and dollar-denominated transactions.

Neither VTB nor Russian officials had issued a public response to the latest designation at the time of the TASS report. This article will be updated as additional details become available.