Israel has formally designated the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) as a terrorist entity.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz signed a special order declaring the CBI, two other Iranian banks, a company linked to the Iranian Armed Forces and three of its senior officials as terrorist organizations and terrorist operatives.
“The Central Bank of Iran is not a financial institution – it is a conduit that funnels billions to murderous terrorism,” Katz said.
“We will hit in the places that hurt the most for the ayatollah regime, which finances the terrorist activities of Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Shiite militias in Iraq, and Hamas through the Revolutionary Guards.
“No regime element that deals with terrorism has immunity. The State of Israel will continue to use all of its military, economic, and intelligence power to expose, strike, and dry up the Iranian axis of evil wherever it operates.”
The declaration was made at the request of the Mossad intelligence agency and upon the recommendation of the National Headquarters for Economic Counterterrorism in the Defense Ministry.
The move is intended to target the heart of the Iranian regime’s financing system, “which operates, finances and arms terrorism throughout the Middle East through the Quds Force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” the ministry said.
The designation will subject the regime and its economic network, which acts as a central source of funds for Iran’s terrorist activities, to new economic sanctions.
Iran generously funds, equips, trains and arms proxies throughout the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the IRGC Quds Force.
The seven entities added to the list of terrorist organizations and terrorist operatives declared in the State of Israel:
1. Central Bank of Iran (CBI): constitutes a source of funding and assists in the transfer of funds to the Revolutionary Guards and the Quds Force. Declared in the US in September 2019.
2. *Shahr Bank:* An Iranian bank that assists in the financing and transfer of funds for the Revolutionary Guards and its subordinate entities. Declared in the US in October 2020.
3. MELLAT Bank: An Iranian bank that assists in financing and transferring funds for the Revolutionary Guards and its subordinate entities. Declared in the US in October 2018.
4. Saffar Energy Jahan Company (SEJ): A company belonging to the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) and used to manage oil sales for the AFGS Oil Command, among other things, to finance the Revolutionary Guards. Works in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to circumvent sanctions and ensure the continued financing of terrorist organizations. Declared in the US in February 2025.
5. MAJID A’ZAMI:
Senior official in the Iranian Oil Ministry and at SEJ. Announced in the US in November 2023.
6. JAMSHID ESHAGHI: Senior officer in the KOMZ and senior executive at SEJ. Announced in the US in February 2025.
7. Elias Niromand Tomaje: – Senior executive at SEJ who leads the KOMZ’s illegal oil transportation activities. Announced in the US in February 2025.
