The United States has imposed sanctions on an Istanbul-based financial technology firm and its Iranian chairman, accusing the company of facilitating payments within a network designed to circumvent restrictions targeting Iran. On Friday, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Zedpay Financial Systems and Services Inc., along with its chairperson Mehdi Rezazadeh.
The action formed part of a broader package that targeted four individuals and nine entities.
Officials asserted that Zedpay, which offers digital wallet and international transfer services, had been integrated into Zedxion Exchange Limited, a UK-registered cryptocurrency platform.
This integration enabled Zedxion users to access Zedpay wallets for trading while also providing the exchange with conventional currency settlement and cross-border payment capabilities it otherwise lacked.
According to the Treasury, Zedpay was designated under Executive Order 13902 because it was owned or controlled by Zedxion or acted for or on its behalf.
Rezazadeh was sanctioned for performing services on behalf of Zedpay. Corporate records place the company at Tekstilkent Plaza in Istanbul’s Esenler district; it was registered on May 24, 2022, as a computer programming enterprise.
Zedxion and a related UK platform, Zedcex Exchange Limited, had already been sanctioned in January together with Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.
Authorities stated that addresses associated with the exchanges processed funds tied to wallets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Zedcex alone had handled more than $94 billion in transactions since its 2022 registration.
Zanjani was convicted in Iran in 2016 of embezzling billions of dollars in oil revenue and initially sentenced to death.
That sentence was later commuted, and by 2025 he had reappeared as a financial supporter of projects connected to the Iranian government.
The Treasury maintains that companies associated with him have employed financial services, cryptocurrency, gold, transportation and infrastructure ventures to disguise ownership, launder funds and move money for Iran.
The new designations freeze any property or interests in property belonging to Zedpay and Rezazadeh that are located in the United States or controlled by US persons.
US individuals and entities are prohibited from dealing with the sanctioned parties without authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Non-US financial institutions may also face secondary sanctions exposure for certain transactions involving the designees.
The case sits against a longer backdrop involving Zanjani’s earlier activities.
Turkish investigators once sought to detain him in connection with a 2013 corruption probe centered on Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, though a planned meeting never took place.
That investigation led to high-profile arrests in Turkey before charges were later dropped. Zarrab was subsequently arrested in the United States, pleaded guilty to sanctions-related offenses, and cooperated with prosecutors in cases involving Turkish banks. These latest measures underscore continued US efforts to disrupt networks alleged to help Iran evade international financial restrictions through fintech and cryptocurrency channels.