{
  "id": 7395867,
  "title": "The U.S. sanctioned Russia’s VTB Bank over its work with Iran. A former Treasury official says the move is also meant to pressure Chinese banks.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/the-u-s-sanctioned-russias-vtb-bank-over-its-work-with-iran-a-former",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-14T20:55:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/14/the-u-s-sanctioned-russia-s-vtb-bank-over-its-work-with-iran-a-former-treasury-official-says-the-move-is-also-meant-to-pressure-chinese-banks"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Russia's VTB Bank for its involvement in evading sanctions against Iran. According to the Treasury, VTB opened offices in Iran, processed transactions with sanctioned Iranian banks, and facilitated the movement of billions of frozen Iranian assets. Analyst Miad Maleki, a former U.S. Treasury official, suggests the measures against VTB are part of broader U.S. pressure on China, which holds a significant portion of Iran's oil revenue. VTB is the only Russian bank with a branch in mainland China and access to the country's domestic payment system. Despite long-standing U.S. sanctions on VTB due to Russia's actions, Chinese banks continued to do business with the bank. Being added to the Iran sanctions list is seen as even more damaging. The Treasury expects Chinese banks to distance themselves from VTB due to potential secondary sanctions under the Iran sanctions program. VTB, Russia's second-largest bank, is state-controlled. The U.S. first imposed restrictions on VTB in 2014 over Crimea's annexation and placed it under blocking sanctions in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.",
  "summary": "The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Russia’s VTB Bank for taking part in efforts to evade sanctions on Iran.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "Russia's VTB Bank latest target in Treasury's economic campaign against Iran",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/russias-vtb-bank-latest-target-in-treasurys-economic-campaign-against",
        "published": "2026-09-14T20:29:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Daily Post Nigeria",
        "title": "US designates Russian bank for helping Iran evade sanctions",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/us-designates-russian-bank-for-helping-iran-evade-sanctions",
        "published": "2026-09-14T21:34:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "US accuses Russian bank of aiding Iran’s sanctions evasion",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/us-accuses-russian-bank-of-aiding-irans-sanctions-evasion",
        "published": "2026-09-14T22:13:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Kyiv Independent",
        "title": "US slaps new penalties on Russia's VTB Bank over Iran sanctions evasion",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/us-slaps-new-penalties-on-russias-vtb-bank-over-iran-sanctions-evasion",
        "published": "2026-09-14T22:24:40.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}