Amid reports by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) financier has been operating a secret payment network for military funds through Binance, Binance CEO Richard Teng has come forward to refute them. Richard Teng stated via X, "The WSJ continues to publish inaccurate reports regarding Binance's regulatory compliance framework. Binance has not allowed transactions with sanctioned individuals on its platform, and the transactions mentioned by the WSJ occurred before sanctions were imposed." He added, "Binance proactively investigated these issues before the WSJ inquired, but the WSJ did not mention this in its report. Binance currently strictly blocks illegal activities and has established and operates an industry-leading compliance program." Previously, the WSJ reported that a financial network led by Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani processed at least $850 million in transactions on Binance over the past two years, with half of that flowing to military funds for the IRGC and pro-Iranian armed groups in the Middle East. The WSJ has consistently published negative reports targeting Binance in the past. Binance also sued a WSJ reporter for defamation in connection with allegations of Iran sanctions evasion.
