Desk note
OFAC designates an Iranian digital-asset network and Cuba mining-and-defense firms, while removing Belarus paint and timber names
What's on the official record
17 September — Iran-related designations; Cuba designations; Belarus-related designations removals.
OFAC added six individuals and ten entities to the SDN List and recorded five deletion entries, with no unrelated administrative list changes. The day page carries two linked releases: Treasury's "Operation Economic Outcast Disrupts Digital Asset Exchange Enabling the Iranian Regime" and a State Department fact sheet, "Further Sanctions on Cuba's Mineral Wealth and Military Modernization Apparatus."
Iran additions, under [IRAN] and [IRAN-EO13902] and subject to secondary sanctions:
- Individuals — SEYED ADEL HEIDARI (linked to DOT ONE VALUE CREATION GROUP); HOSSEIN ALI ZAKER HOSSEIN (linked to ZANJANI, Babak Morteza); and MOHAMMAD MAHDI ZAKER HOSSEIN, a.k.a. Hamed (linked to PISHTAZ SIMORGH ELECTRONIC TRADE COMPANY).
- Entities — BITBANK (a.k.a. BITBANK3) and PISHTAZ SIMORGH ELECTRONIC TRADE COMPANY, both listed at No. 2, 35th Street, Alvand Street, Argentina Square, Tehran, with an organization established date of 2024.
Cuba additions, under [CUBA-EO14404]:
- Individuals — JOAQUIN FRANCISCO CANCIO MONTEAGUDO, JULIO HURTADO BETANCOURT, and DIOGLIS PEDRERA ARGUELLO.
- Entities — a defense R&D cluster (CIDAI, CID-SIM, CIDNAV, and CIDP GRITO DE BAIRE) plus a nickel-support cluster around Moa/Holguin (CEDINIQ, CEPRONIQUEL, SERCONI, and PINARES S.A.).
Belarus deletions:
- Two Lakokraska paint entries (LAKOKRASKA OAO and LAKOKRASKA OPEN JOINT-STOCK COMPANY) and three entries for the timber, woodworking, and pulp-and-paper concern KONTSERN BELLESBUMPROM.
Assessment
For a sanctions-screening or trade-finance desk, the action's center of gravity is the Iranian digital-asset cluster: BITBANK and PISHTAZ SIMORGH share a Tehran address and a 2024 founding date, and the Treasury release frames the exchange as enabling the Iranian regime — evidence that OFAC is going after the virtual-asset on-ramp itself.
For a Cuba exposure desk (metals, mining services, defense supply chains), the pairing of the nickel cluster with weapons R&D centers signals a widening toward state-owned extraction and defense research, not a narrow company action.
The Belarus changes are removals; screening systems should process them as permission-restoring de-listings.
What to check next
| Check | Why it matters | Where to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Alias and website coverage for BITBANK/BITBANK3 and PISHTAZ SIMORGH (bitbank3.com, bitbank.com, pishtazsimorgh.com) | Both carry secondary-sanctions tags and a shared network footprint | OFAC SDN file |
| Cuba nickel cluster (CEDINIQ, CEPRONIQUEL, SERCONI, PINARES S.A.) and the defense R&D centers | New state-owned mining and defense coverage | State Department fact sheet |
| De-listing dates for Lakokraska and KONTSERN BELLESBUMPROM | Confirm removals propagate to screening data | OFAC SDN file |
What would change this call
The network reading shifts if Treasury names exchanges beyond BITBANK, or if the Cuba action expands past mining and defense into a broader sweep on subsequent days. A re-listing of the Belarus names, or new third parties routed through the shared Tehran address, would also revise the picture.
Confidence
High on the verbatim record: names, authorities, the six individual and ten entity additions, and the five deletion entries are enumerated on the day page. Moderate on motive: the "Operation Economic Outcast" and Cuba mining-and-defense framing supply a direction to the action, but the page does not state OFAC's policy rationale, so intent is inferred from release titles rather than sourced.