Chainalysis revealed a scheme for financing pro-Iranian forces with the help of crypto
Date: 2023-07-02 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain analysts have revealed details of Israel's confiscation of more than $1.5 million in cryptocurrency intended to sponsor pro-Iranian interests.
Pro-Iranian military-political groups were sponsored by cryptocurrency through a Syrian intermediary. This was announced in a blog by the American blockchain firm Chainalysis. The firm claims to have helped Israeli intelligence seize $1.7 million in cryptocurrency intended to fund the Iranian regime.
According to published data, the military-political group of the Quds Force (recognized as terrorist in the United States and European countries) sponsored the activities of another terrorist organization, Hezbollah. Financing was carried out with the help of cryptocurrency through the Hawala system (an informal financial and settlement system based on the netting of claims and obligations).
According to Chainalysis, Israel confiscated the wallets of a certain Syrian broker Tawfiq Muhammad Saeed Al-Lo. He reportedly worked for Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal, a financial intermediary between Hezbollah and the Quds Force. The Syrian broker also worked with Muhammad Jafar Qasir, another financial specialist between the pro-Iranian movements.
Iran loves the dollar on the TRON network
From the details published by Chainalysis, it follows that Saeed sponsored pro-Iranian groups using the stablecoin tether (USDT) on the TRON network. The funds of Said himself and his intermediaries in the stablecoin have already been blocked by the issuer Tether, the firm noted.
The Syrian broker sent the stablecoin not only to intermediaries, who eventually withdrew USDT to some Iranian crypto exchange. Digital currency from Said was also credited to the accounts of a certain well-known trading platform. What kind of exchange we are talking about is not specified.
Earlier, Reuters journalists, citing Chainalysis, found out that the Binance cryptocurrency exchange helped Iran trade $8 billion despite sanctions. According to the blockchain firm, during the raid, the Israeli authorities froze cryptocurrency on four dozen wallets.
In April, the editors wrote that more than 65% of the incoming capital on the cryptocurrency exchanges of sanctioned Iran is carried out through the TRON network. Most often, Iranians transfer the USDT stablecoin and the TRX token. The latter is necessary to cover fees on the TRON network.
The largest crypto exchange in Iran in terms of incoming capital in 2022 was the Nobitex platform. It accounted for 87% of the capital in the local market, according to TRM Labs.
According to analysts, international crypto exchanges freely send cryptocurrency to the accounts of Iranian trading platforms. It is unclear from which exchanges the cryptocurrency comes. TRM Labs claims that such operations account for up to 80% of receipts to the accounts of Iranian exchanges.
