Netanyahu says Israel working to overthrow Iran’s regime

Iran International also found that US investigations into some banks were years behind the activities of the network, which expanded across multiple countries and moved billions of dollars for Iran despite sanctions.

The investigation was based on leaked internal correspondence and foreign transaction records from Bank Parsian spanning November 2022 to May 2023. The Iranian bank has been under US sanctions since 2018.

These documents shed light on a multi-layered operation within Iran’s banking system. The records offer only a snapshot of one network over a seven-month period, suggesting the full scale is far greater.

Iran International found no evidence that the banks in the UAE and China knowingly facilitated Iran’s efforts to circumvent US sanctions.

The investigation identified 15 foreign-based banks that helped Iran conduct international transactions in recent years.

Thirteen of these banks have faced no US penalties or enforcement for their involvement, according to publicly available records.

Only two of the 15 banks were targeted by the United States in August as part of the “D-Day” economic campaign which Washington described as an onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe.

On August 24, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on all governments to close branches of Bank Melli Iran.

Four days later, the Treasury proposed cutting Banque Misr’s UAE operations off from correspondent banking access to the US financial system.

Treasury estimates that from 2024 to 2026, Banque Misr UAE processed approximately $1.8 billion for 103 companies that are potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks.

However, documents reviewed by Iran International showed that funds originating from Iran’s central bank were being directed to accounts at Banque Misr’s UAE branches as early as November 2022.

Banque Misr and Bank Parsian did not respond to requests for comment.

China and UAE

Iranian banks use intermediaries to move foreign currency outside the country while obscuring their involvement in transactions, according to the US Treasury. Brokers working for the banks use so-called “rahbar” companies, which in turn rely on overseas shell and front companies to bypass sanctions.

The leaked documents showed funds belonging to Iranian banks being deposited into accounts outside Iran — referred to in the records as “trustee accounts” — and then moved according to the Iranian banks’ instructions.

At each stage, identifying details disappeared, leaving foreign banks facing non-Iranian, mostly non-sanctioned trading companies rather than sanctioned institutions such as Bank Parsian, Bank Shahr or Iran’s central bank.

A May 22, 2023 letter from Bank Parsian showed the bank asking Bank Shahr, another Iranian lender, to arrange the “settlement of purchased dirhams of nominee origin.”

The letter said Bank Parsian had bought 3.06 million UAE dirhams from Iran’s central bank and that the funds were held in a “trustee account” at Bank Shahr. It asked Bank Shahr to transfer the money to an account at Banque Misr.

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“What keeps the regime’s shadow banking network, the so-called rahbar network, running is not clever financial engineering. It is people: trusted individuals and a handful of sarrafis, the currency brokers who serve as the regime’s gateway to the global financial system,” said Miad Maleki, a former senior Treasury official now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

“Just as IRGC soldiers carry out the regime’s repression at home, these businessmen and trustees carry the responsibility for funding its terrorism at home and abroad. Without them, Tehran could not move a single yuan out of its accounts in China or buy a single dollar or euro in Dubai or Istanbul,” he added.

Iran International identified 33 instruction letters in the leaked documents that directed the movement of dirham, yuan and dollars, with a total value of roughly $36 million.

Dollars made up the largest share of the value transferred, meaning the dominant currency in this shadow network was still the one US sanctions are designed to control.

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UAE and China

The US Treasury described Banque Misr UAE as “a critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to U.S. dollars.”

Banque Misr was the most frequent UAE destination for Bank Parsian’s foreign transactions, the documents showed, but seven other banks operating in the Arab state also appeared in the records, including some of the UAE’s largest lenders.

The documents showed the transactions took place between 2022 and 2023, years after Bank Parsian was designated under an executive order targeting terrorism financing.

Thirteen UAE-registered companies also appeared as beneficiaries across these eight banks. Five of them held the Banque Misr accounts.

Iran International also identified seven Chinese banks that received money on behalf of Iran.

The leaked documents include 23 letters from Bank Parsian involving yuan-denominated transactions with Chinese banks, including some of the country’s largest lenders by assets.

One Chinese bank that specialises in cross-border settlements for small exporters received 11 payment instructions from Bank Parsian according to the documents.

Most of the beneficiary firms were general trading companies registered in Hong Kong and Singapore, where companies can be established relatively easily, while receiving banking services from mainland China.

None of the seven Chinese banks identified in the documents has faced US enforcement action over its dealings with Iran.

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Tip of the iceberg

Bessent said in August that the department had "mapped the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions, and fund terror."

President Donald Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”

His warning included cash transfers, exchange houses and front companies.

However, U.S. sanctions have tended to focus more heavily on Iran’s oil-revenue and procurement networks than on correspondent banking and trade finance.

The Iran International investigation reveals the scale of what remains untouched by the US administration. The leaked files show that one Iranian bank, in seven months, directed money to 15 foreign-based banks in two countries through 33 beneficiary companies.

Out of 33 beneficiaries, only three have been publicly identified by the US Treasury.

The transactions identified by the investigation were carried out by Iranian financial institutions that were already under US sanctions when the instruction letters were issued.

Throughout that period, the Iranian institutions at the heart of the network - including the Central Bank of Iran, Bank Parsian, Bank Shahr, Bank Eghtesad Novin, Bank Saman, and Bank Melli - were already under extensive US sanctions. Yet the money continued to move, largely through financial institutions outside Iran.

Section 311

Washington has stopped short of targeting larger financial institutions, particularly major Chinese banks involved in financing Iranian trade, a step Washington has so far avoided amid concerns over wider financial disruption and retaliation.

Hours after the United States sanctioned dozens of Chinese entities and threatened to target an unspecified “major financial institution” over its dealings with Tehran, Beijing said in a threatening tone that its relationship with Iran “should not be disrupted or undermined.” China would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian warned.

Washington has begun targeting the banking channels used by Iran’s shadow network through a more targeted tool, Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act, which can restrict foreign financial institutions’ access to the US financial system.

Unlike a sanctions designation, a Section 311 finding does not require the Treasury to show that the bank knowingly handled Iranian money — which may be why it was the instrument chosen.

Banque Misr’s UAE operations were targeted under Section 311 as part of the economic D-Day campaign.

“What makes this package different is that it isn’t operating alone. US diplomatic engagement and pressure on jurisdictions like the UAE, Turkey — and even China, is now coupled with a blockade that is choking off a large share of the imports Iran uses these networks to finance,” former Treasury official Maleki said.

“Together, that accelerates what sanctions alone would take years to do. And the regional calculus has shifted: jurisdictions that have themselves been targeted by the regime are far more willing to cooperate on enforcement — as the UAE just showed,” he added

Washington has signaled that further action against foreign banks is coming.

Whether Washington’s D-Day economic campaign succeeds will depend heavily on enforcement beyond Iran, including action against foreign institutions facilitating Iranian transactions, many of which are based in partner countries or strategic rivals.

Global News identified him as Mohammad-Reza Ghafouri-Fard, a 45-year-old Edmonton resident who has done business in Canada under the name Sal Ghafouri and whose father, HassanGhafouri-Fard, was a conservative Member of Parliament and former vice-president to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Citing a recently declassified Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report, Global News said Ghafouri had been the subject of a long-running investigation over his alleged work for Iran’s military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to the report, CSIS said Ghafouri was “involved in the research and development of Iranian military technologies” and allegedly helped develop a guided anti-aircraft missile system and an electronic warfare tool intended to counter US aircraft.

The report said CSIS also alleged that Ghafouri participated in a “covert procurement structure” that used a company in Southeast Asia to obtain components for Iranian military projects that were unavailable because of sanctions.

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Government contracts

Global News said public records showed companies founded by Ghafouri received more than $2 million in government contracts, including from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Department of National Defence.

The report said Ghafouri had been flagged by immigration investigators for national security reasons in 2017 but later won procurement contracts, including two worth more than $1.5 million from the Canadian military. His companies continued receiving federal money after CSIS completed its security screening report in 2023, it said.

Alleged military work

Ghafouri worked for Iranian company Rabi Kosar, which CSIS described as conducting research and development for Iran’s military.

According to the CSIS report, Ghafouri worked on the Shahin missile used in Iran’s Mersad air-defense system, the RAAD electronic warfare project and the SINA direction-finding system, which had military applications including locating ships in the Persian Gulf.

• 

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  Canada deports former Iranian official linked to 2019 protest crackdown

CSIS alleged Ghafouri was later reassigned to procurement work, where requirements for military components were passed to a Malaysia-based contact who sourced parts from third countries, including the United States.

Ghafouri returned to Iran in 2015 and met twice with members of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, who questioned him about his activities in Canada and advised him on how to respond if approached by Canadian police or intelligence services.

Citizenship case

Global News said Canada’s immigration department informed Ghafouri in May 2026 that it was launching proceedings to deny him citizenship on the grounds that he was a “threat to the security of Canada.”

Canada Border Services Agency had separately decided to launch deportation proceedings against him over his employment activities in Iran but withdrew the case in November because of an “inability to use the required evidence.”

His lawyer, Bjorna Shkurti, told Global News that Ghafouri “strongly disputes the allegations made against him” and intends to pursue all available legal avenues.

Global News said Ghafouri is also pursuing legal action over delays to his citizenship application and has argued in court filings that he answered CSIS questions truthfully, contributed significantly to Canada and does not pose a security threat.

“This time you fight. Help from the people is on its way,” one Iran International audience told the US president, turning back on Trump a phrase he used during earlier anti-government protests.

Trump asked the question on Truth Social on Tuesday night while rejecting an ABC News report that he was seeking to bring Iran into negotiations.

“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table... I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” Trump wrote.

“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” Trump added.

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  'Help is on the way': to whom?

Thousands of responses sent to Iran International pointed to a common argument: Iranians have repeatedly confronted the Islamic Republic, but many are reluctant to return to the streets without greater confidence that its forces can no longer suppress them and that outside powers will not change course.

‘People have been fighting for 47 years’

Several respondents pointed to successive waves of anti-government protests in Iran and the heavy costs borne by demonstrators.

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“The people of Iran fought and rose up a thousand times beyond their capacity. Now it is time for other countries to help them,” one wrote.

“The people of Iran have been fighting for 47 years,” another told Trump.

Others pointed to protesters who took to the streets on January 8 and 9, asking when people who confronted government forces without weapons would receive meaningful assistance.

Some respondents said further negotiations between Washington and the Islamic Republic would undermine Iranians seeking political change.

“This government does not represent the people. Negotiating with the killers of the people is a mistake. Help so that the people themselves can finish the job,” one respondent wrote.

Fear of another crackdown

The prospect of another crackdown featured prominently in the messages, with people arguing that the capacity of security forces would have to be weakened before another uprising could succeed.

One described reducing the strength of forces used against demonstrators as the most important condition for renewed street protests.

“No matter how brave you are, if you know you will be killed by snipers, it is foolish to fight empty-handed,” another respondent wrote, referring to Trump’s previous calls for Iranians to protest.

On March 15, Trump said: “The protesters have no guns. And I know you’re a brave person, but I don’t think you’d be protesting. And so I think it’s very hard for them to protest. I fully understand it.”

Another person said ordinary people could not be treated as “cannon fodder,” adding that an uprising without a plan would be a mistake.

Several respondents said people would return to the streets when they believed the authorities’ ability to suppress demonstrations had been sufficiently weakened. Others pointed to disabling checkpoints and disrupting security structures as steps that could change the balance.

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“Mr. Trump, continue the naval blockade and add a land blockade. Give [Benjamin] Netanyahu a free hand to destroy the system of repression, and then the people of Iran are ready to overthrow the Islamic Republic,” another one wrote.

Some also called for increased pressure on the Islamic Republic and clearer international backing for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi during a potential transition.

Trump’s ‘help is on its way’ message returns

A separate strand of responses focused on mistrust of Washington and concern that Trump could encourage another uprising only to resume negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

“We are afraid that we will come out and you will negotiate with the mullahs’ regime again,” read a message.

“The people of Iran will rise when you do not negotiate with this murderous regime,” another wrote.

Trump had urged Iranians to continue protesting during demonstrations in January and told them that “help is on its way,” a message several respondents invoked in answering his latest question.

• 

  Iranians plead with Trump not to negotiate with the Islamic Republic

“When you said help was on its way, people came into the streets, but you sat down and made a deal with the government.”

The respondent added that if Iranians returned to the streets, they would do so “to fight and regain their own freedom,” rather than to advance US strategy.

Some arrive in their own cars to buy drugs before losing their homes, sleeping in their vehicles and, in some cases, becoming homeless within weeks, according to social workers interviewed in the newspaper’s field report.

“We are now encountering a different group of women, women who sometimes had relatively normal lives until middle age, had families and children and were not even drug users before entering these spaces,” Sepideh Alizadeh, a social worker, told the daily.

There are no recent official figures showing how many homeless women live in Tehran or allowing the increase described by social workers to be precisely measured.

From homes and cars to drug sites

At one drug-use site in wasteland near Tehran’s Azadegan Highway, men and women queued to buy heroin from a dealer operating from a cavity among large rocks, paying in cash or by card before consuming the drug nearby.

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Among them were women whose appearance still differed markedly from people who had spent longer periods living at such sites.

One woman was living in her own car and using heroin there. A social worker pointed her out before she placed a metal pipe to her lips and drove away in her white sedan with another drug user.

“She still hasn't ended up like the others at the site and lives in her own car,” the social worker said.

Others described women following a similar trajectory, initially driving to the area to buy drugs before sleeping in their cars and eventually losing them.

People gathered at the site also described a young woman who had given birth several weeks earlier in one of the makeshift rooms scattered across the wasteland.

“Her baby was born right here at the drug site, but she has disappeared since that day,” one person there said.

Another man said the woman had gone into hiding because she feared the authorities would take the child away.

“She disappeared because she was afraid of the welfare authorities,” he said. “They say the baby was born addicted, but nobody knows where they are now.”

Shargh said attempts to locate the mother and baby were unsuccessful, including a visit to a makeshift room off the highway where people at the site believed they had been hiding.

Poverty and the inability to afford housing are increasingly exposing women to such environments, including some who had not previously used drugs.

The risks can extend to entire families. In another case described by a social worker, a couple and their young child were living in a vehicle until social emergency services intervened and transferred the child to the state welfare organization because of the conditions.

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Middle-aged women increasingly visible

Tehran has no up-to-date figures for its homeless female population, but available data point to a broader problem with homelessness in the capital.

Tehran municipality identified about 24,000 homeless people in 2021. Calls concerning homeless families increased in early 2025, and a Tehran City Council spokesman later pointed to an increase in visibly dependent drug users in parts of the capital.

Social workers say middle-aged women have become more visible at drug-use sites in recent years, particularly since the 40-day war with the US and Israel.

Many women encountered at such sites in previous years had already experienced addiction or other forms of severe social instability. Social workers now describe seeing women who maintained homes and families into middle age before financial pressures left them without secure housing.

Some initially live in cars, pickup trucks or temporary shelters. Without early support, homelessness can expose them to drug use and accelerate a descent that becomes increasingly difficult to reverse.

Violence and barriers to treatment

Women living at drug-use sites face heightened exposure to violence, theft and exploitation and can have less ability to defend themselves or escape confrontations.

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Efforts to clear established gathering places can worsen their vulnerability by dispersing people to more remote areas where harm-reduction services are harder to access, the report said.

For those seeking to stop using drugs, access to voluntary treatment presents another obstacle.

The decision to seek treatment may last only a matter of hours before withdrawal, hunger or a return to the same surroundings leads someone back to drug use, social workers told Shargh.

Treatment costs, administrative procedures and admission restrictions can prevent people without money from receiving help during that window, even as resources remain available for compulsory treatment programs.

No decision has been made on returning to full-scale conflict, but top aides to US President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the war relatively contained until the election as Republicans defend narrow majorities in Congress.

“We are keeping the pressure on Iran,” one White House official said. “But November is a priority.”

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the senior officials supporting efforts to keep the conflict relatively quiet until November, two White House officials told Reuters.

The sources said containing the war could limit its impact on Republican midterm campaigns and give the US military time to replenish depleted munitions. High gasoline prices have also contributed to public dissatisfaction with the conflict.

“The timetable has changed,” one senior White House official said. Another added: “The calendar is driving Iran.”

Reuters reported in August that the US military had used “virtually all” of its stock of some long-range precision missiles. The Pentagon, however, said the military had “everything it needs to execute” its mission.

The sources said Washington was focusing for now on intensifying economic pressure through sanctions and its naval blockade, seeking concessions in future negotiations that months of military action had failed to secure.

Trump warned on Tuesday that further Iranian action would bring a stronger US response.

“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings,” he wrote on Truth Social.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales defended the administration’s strategy, saying: “President Trump has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and is crippling what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history and crushing sanctions.”

“The President will continue to advance America’s interests at home and abroad and will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” she added.