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Washington Tracks New Iranian ‘Shadow Banking’ Activity

An illustration showing the Iranian flag, a US dollar banknote, and miniature models of oil pipelines and barrels (Reuters)
An illustration showing the Iranian flag, a US dollar banknote, and miniature models of oil pipelines and barrels (Reuters)
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Washington Tracks New Iranian ‘Shadow Banking’ Activity

An illustration showing the Iranian flag, a US dollar banknote, and miniature models of oil pipelines and barrels (Reuters)
An illustration showing the Iranian flag, a US dollar banknote, and miniature models of oil pipelines and barrels (Reuters)

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury, revealed that nearly USD 9 billion in parallel financial activity linked to Iran flowed through American bank accounts during 2024.

The finding was released Thursday as part of what the agency described as a new analysis intended to bolster President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

According to the report, Iran relies on parallel banking networks involving local exchange companies inside the country and foreign entities to circumvent US sanctions, sell oil abroad, launder money, fund its regional proxies, and support its military and weapons development programs.

These shadow financial networks are a critical enabler of Iran’s destabilizing activities, according to FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. She noted that identifying them was an essential part of efforts to cut off funding for Iran’s military programs and terrorist proxies. She added that the report aims “to raise awareness among financial institutions worldwide.”

The report details how Iranian-linked networks operate across continents through front companies, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Singapore. These entities span the oil, investment, shipping, and technology sectors, conducting billions of dollars in transactions with counterparties that may or may not be aware of the illicit nature of the activity.

Foreign front companies played the most significant role, according to the report, handling around USD 5 billion in transactions during 2024. FinCEN identified dozens of oil firms acting as Iranian fronts - most based in the UAE and Singapore - that moved nearly USD 4 billion last year.

The report also notes that Iranian-affiliated technology procurement firms received approximately USD 413 million in payments to acquire export-controlled technologies.

This analysis comes as the Trump administration continues its renewed maximum pressure campaign launched in February, aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and depriving it of resources to fund military operations and regional proxies.

In New York, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said at the UN Security Council that because of tough action on Iranian proxies, there’s now a historic opportunity across the region.

“The United States supports and has supported the re-imposition of UN snapback sanctions on the Iranian regime. The regime will continue to face consequences as long as it does not leave its path of destruction,” he told a Council debate on the Middle East.

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World

6 Killed in Swiss Bus Blaze after Person Reportedly Sets Themselves on Fire

Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly bus fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, March 10, 2026. STATE OF FREIBURG/Handout via REUTERS
Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly bus fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, March 10, 2026. STATE OF FREIBURG/Handout via REUTERS
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6 Killed in Swiss Bus Blaze after Person Reportedly Sets Themselves on Fire

Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly bus fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, March 10, 2026. STATE OF FREIBURG/Handout via REUTERS
Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly bus fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, March 10, 2026. STATE OF FREIBURG/Handout via REUTERS

At least six people died and three others were injured in a bus fire on Tuesday in a small town in western Switzerland, in what police said may have been a deliberate act following reports that a person on board set fire to themselves.

Police said the bus became engulfed in flames on a road in Kerzers, a town in the canton of Fribourg, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Swiss capital, Bern.

"At this stage, we have ⁠elements suggesting a ⁠deliberate act by a person who was inside the bus," said Frederic Papaux, a spokesperson for Fribourg police.

Investigators were looking into reports that a person had poured fuel on themselves, said Christa Bielmann, another local police spokesperson. It was too early to say whether the incident was terror-related, ⁠she told a press conference.

Three injured people were taken to hospital, Reuters quoted police as saying. Two other people caught up in the blaze also received attention but did not need to be hospitalized.

Passengers were seen escaping from the burning bus, panicked and injured, Papaux said, adding that no other vehicle was involved.

Swiss media outlet 20 Minutes said it had seen a video taken at the scene in which an injured person said: "A man set himself on fire. He poured gasoline ⁠over himself ⁠and then lit himself."

Video after the flames were extinguished showed the charred remains of the vehicle, a yellow so-called Postauto.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin offered his condolences and said the incident was being investigated.

"It shocks and saddens me that once again people have lost their lives in a serious fire in Switzerland," he said in a statement on X, noting investigations were under way. In January, Switzerland was rocked by a fire in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans Montana that killed 41 people and injured 115.

World

Iran Police Chief Says Anti-Government Protesters Treated as ‘Enemies’

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)
People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Police Chief Says Anti-Government Protesters Treated as ‘Enemies’

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)
People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)

Iranian protesters will be treated as enemies if they support Tehran's foes, the country's top police officer warned, as the Middle East war sparked fears mass anti-government rallies could reignite.

"If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy," said national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan in comments aired by state broadcaster IRIB late on Tuesday.

"And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way we deal with enemies," he added.

"All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution."

His warning comes after the government cracked down on anti-government protests in January, sparked a month before over economic grievances in the sanctions-hit country.

The authorities deemed the protests to be "riots" and Radan at one point issued an ultimatum to protesters to hand themselves in or face the full force of the law.

Iranian authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths in the unrest, including members of the security forces and bystanders, but say the violence was caused by "terrorist acts" fueled by Iran's enemies.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), however, has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher. More than 50,000 have been arrested, it says.

US President Donald Trump had initially cheered on the protesters, threatening to intervene on their behalf as authorities launched a deadly crackdown, but his threats soon shifted to Iran's nuclear program.

Washington launched strikes with Israel on Iran on February 28, sparking retaliatory strikes by Tehran against Israel and US bases across the Gulf region.

World

UN Warns Hormuz Standstill Will Hit World’s Most Vulnerable

The Parnassos crude oil tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)
The Parnassos crude oil tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Warns Hormuz Standstill Will Hit World’s Most Vulnerable

The Parnassos crude oil tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)
The Parnassos crude oil tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)

The standstill in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the Middle East war could hammer some of the world's most vulnerable people, the United Nations warned Tuesday.

The strait is the only sea passage from the Gulf towards the Indian Ocean, through which nearly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil supplies pass, as well as a significant amount of cargo.

Iran has all but blocked the waterway following the launch of the February 28 US-Israeli airstrikes on the country that triggered the war.

"The current shock comes at a time when many developing economies struggle to service their debt, face a tightening of fiscal space and limited capacity to absorb new price shocks," the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD said.

"Higher energy, fertilizer and transport costs -- including freight rates, bunker fuel prices and insurance premiums -- may increase food costs and intensify cost-of-living pressures, particularly for the most vulnerable," it said.

UNCTAD added that, in terms of seaborne trade volume, in the week before the conflict 38 percent of crude oil, 29 percent of liquified petroleum gas, 19 percent of liquified natural gas and 19 percent refined oil products went through the strait.

But while an average of 129 ships transited daily through the passage between February 1 and 27, that number dropped to just three on March 3.

UNCTAD said the disruptions underscored the vulnerability of critical maritime chokepoints and their potential for disruption to them to send shocks across supply chains and commodity markets.

"Rising energy, transport and food costs could strain public finances and increase pressure on household budgets, potentially heightening economic and social pressures... particularly in economies heavily dependent on imported energy, fertilizers and staple foods," it said.

- Food aid hit -

UN rights chief Volker Turk echoed the alarm for the effect the plunge in commercial shipping activity could have, "particularly for the world's most vulnerable".

"The impact of an oil price surge will have a knock-on effect for macro-economic and social stability in many countries, particularly those already experiencing debt distress," he said.

The UN's World Food Program said the costs and time lost to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions were already impacting its humanitarian operations.

"This is nothing less than another seminal moment in global supply chain history," Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of WFP's food and nutrition analysis service, told reporters in Geneva.

Speaking from the WFP's Rome headquarters, he said shipping lines were diverting services and adding surcharges, leading to congestion "in places that are very far from Hormuz".

"We're seeing congestion in Asia. It's quite a severe disruption that's taking place right now," Bauer said.

"We're needing to go the long way around the Cape of Good Hope to reach some of our key geographies."

WFP's biggest operation is in Sudan, but now it is facing approximately 25 days of additional shipping time.

"It's basically 50 percent more than we would usually have. So that's really extending the supply chain and adding to cost," said Bauer.