Binance Denies $850M Iran-Linked Transaction Claims As Sanctions Scrutiny Widens

Binance is pushing back against new Iran-linked transaction claims involving roughly $850 million in alleged activity tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani and a wider payment network.

The disputed activity allegedly took place over two years and involved Binance accounts connected to Zanjani’s broader network. The claims also raised questions about shared-device access, account links and whether platform controls caught suspicious activity early enough.

Binance CEO Richard Teng rejected the allegations in a public response, calling the claims “fundamentally inaccurate.” He said Binance does not allow sanctioned individuals to transact on its platform and argued that the activity cited in the story happened before the people involved were sanctioned.

Teng also said Binance had already reviewed the matter before media questions arrived and had provided its findings before publication. Binance’s defense now rests on timing, account-level exposure and whether the activity involved sanctioned users at the time it occurred.

The case is sensitive because sanctions compliance in crypto depends on more than one datapoint. Funds can move through direct exchange accounts, indirect wallet hops, counterparties, stablecoin rails, OTC networks and third-party intermediaries. For Binance, the central issue is whether the accounts in question were controlled by sanctioned parties during the relevant period, and whether later-linked activity was identified and handled under its compliance program.

Zanjani Sanctions Raise The Stakes

Babak Morteza Zanjani became a higher-risk figure for crypto compliance after OFAC designated him on January 30, 2026, along with Zedcex Exchange and Zedxion Exchange. The same action marked OFAC’s first designation of a digital asset exchange for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy, placing Zanjani and the two exchanges on the SDN list.

The Treasury action tied Zanjani’s network to Iranian financial activity, IRGC-linked counterparties and large digital asset flows. That background gives the Binance dispute a sharper regulatory edge because the core question is not only whether the transactions happened, but when the relevant actors became sanctioned and how Binance handled any account links before and after that point.

Binance has spent the past two years presenting itself as a much more compliance-driven exchange after its 2023 U.S. settlement. The company says sanctions-related exposure fell from 0.284% of total exchange volume in January 2024 to 0.009% in July 2025, while its compliance headcount has expanded to more than 1,500 staff across sanctions screening, investigations, monitoring and law-enforcement support. Its latest compliance defense has become central to how the exchange answers Iran-linked scrutiny.

Binance’s 2023 Settlement Still Frames The Reaction

The new dispute lands against Binance’s existing enforcement history in the United States. Binance pleaded guilty in 2023 to anti-money-laundering, unlicensed money-transmission and sanctions violations as part of a resolution exceeding $4 billion. The exchange also accepted stronger compliance obligations, while OFAC’s settlement included an independent compliance monitor for five years. The DOJ resolution remains one of the largest crypto enforcement actions in U.S. history.

That history gives every sanctions-linked claim around Binance a heavier market and regulatory impact. The company is no longer being judged only on whether questionable flows touched the platform. It is also being judged on whether its post-settlement controls can identify high-risk accounts, block sanctioned users, document investigations and show regulators that past failures are not repeating.