Turkiye revokes Iranian bank license under US sanctions campaign
The Cradle | September 19, 2026
The Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) revoked Iran’s Bank Mellat license, citing vague financial risks amid Washington’s economic sanctions campaign on Tehran, Turkiye’s Official Gazette reported on 18 September.
The regulator invoked Article 71(b) of Turkiye’s banking law, which allows a license to be revoked if a bank is deemed a threat to depositors or to the stability of the financial system, thereby ending the lender’s 44-year presence in the country.
The notice made no reference to US sanctions or to any operational failings at the bank’s Istanbul branch.
However, Bank Mellat, whose largest shareholder is the Iranian government, is under US, EU, and UK sanctions, according to the open-source sanctions-tracking database OpenSanctions.
Earlier this week, Ankara declared that Iran’s Mahan Air would be grounded starting 21 September, following Washington’s sanctions on three Turkish companies for providing services to the airline.
The US Treasury said Turkiye and Oman agreed to halt the flights following talks on complying with its sanctions.
“The risk now extends to every Turkish entity providing services to Mahan Air, from airport operations and ground handling to ticketing and banking,” one official warned.
The airline, which ran at least three daily flights between Istanbul and Tehran, is also suspending services to Oman and Georgia.
The revocation follows a string of punitive measures under Washington’s “Economic Outcast” operation, an economic strangulation campaign launched after the US failed to achieve its military objectives against Iran.
On 4 September, the US Treasury sanctioned Golden Global Bank, a small Turkish investment bank, along with two of its Istanbul-based units, accusing them of channeling tens of millions of dollars for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force.
Days earlier, the Treasury cut the UAE branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr off from dollar access over their dealings with Iran, the Financial Times reported on 28 August.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed to roll out new secondary sanctions every week, with banks first in line.
“This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” he told AP.
Bessent has also repeatedly pressed Washington’s allies to intensify their own sanctions on Tehran, warning G20 finance chiefs they would face secondary sanctions of their own if they failed to cut ties.
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