US imposes sanctions on Turkish bank, prompting legal threat

What the report says

The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, known as Golden Global Bank, and two subsidiaries, accusing the Turkish lender of helping move money for Iran and for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Al Jazeera reported that Washington said the bank facilitated tens of millions of dollars in transactions and provided banking access that allowed Iranian funds to move internationally. The sanctions place the bank on the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control list, which effectively cuts it off from the US financial system.

Golden Global Bank rejected the allegations and said it complied with local and international banking rules. In a statement, the bank said it would challenge the decision through legal channels and argued that the entities named by the US were not and had not been its customers. The move is part of a broader US effort to pressure and economically isolate Tehran.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measures show that Washington is serious about targeting networks it says support Iran’s finances. The decision also drew a response from US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack, who said the action should not be read as a judgment on Turkiye’s financial system as a whole. Al Jazeera noted that the sanction follows other recent US steps against institutions accused of links to Iran’s shadow banking network.