Washington DC, July 10 -- The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Dubai-based Iranian "financier" Ali Ansari, following Tehran's resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Treasury Department described Ansari as a "key financier" for Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and accused him of large-scale, institutionalised embezzlement within the Iranian regime.

"Today, following Iran's resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari, who oversees a sprawling global network of assets benefiting Iran's leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and...