The founders of Iran’s exchange Nobitex are brothers Ali and Mohammad Kharrazi.
The founders of Iran’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex are brothers Ali and Mohammad Kharrazi, Reuters has found. The Kharrazi brothers belong to one of the most influential political families in the Islamic Republic, closely tied to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
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To conceal their origins, the brothers registered the company and used the surname Aghamir in documents.
Their grandfather served on the Assembly of Experts and was a mentor to Mojtaba Khamenei. Their father founded Iran’s Hezbollah movement and participated in the creation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Scale of Operations and Sanctions Evasion
Nobitex serves more than 11 million users and controls approximately 70% of all crypto transactions in Iran. The platform continued to operate even during full-scale internet shutdowns amid the war. According to analysts, more than $100M in transactions passed through it during the conflict.
Significant volumes of funds from sanctioned entities passed through the exchange. Estimates vary:
- Elliptic identified suspicious flows of $366M
- Chainalysis found approximately $68M
- Crystal Intelligence identified $22M in direct transfers from sanctioned wallets
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In 2025, wallets linked to Iran’s Central Bank transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to Nobitex to circumvent international sanctions.
Reaction and Consequences
The United States, under Operation Economic Fury, has already seized approximately $500M in Iranian cryptocurrency. Nobitex has not yet faced direct Western sanctions.
Exchange representatives deny any connection to the government and state that the share of illegal transactions in the total volume is “very small” and occurred without management’s knowledge.
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