Türkiye has revoked the license of Bank Mellat, one of Iran's largest private banks, according to the decision published in the country's Official Gazette early on Saturday.
The move follows a decision by Türkiye's banking regulator over the Tehran-based bank, which provides financial support to Iran's government and is subject to U.S., EU and U.K. sanctions, according to OpenSanctions, an open-source database of information on sanctions-hit entities.
The Iranian government is also the largest shareholder of the bank, it said.
In revoking Bank Mellat's license, the Turkish regulator cited article 71b of the banking law, which says the entity's "continued operation poses a threat to the rights of depositors and participation fund holders and to the security and stability of the financial system."
The move comes two weeks after Washington imposed sanctions on a smaller Türkiye-based bank over alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
