Eye For Iran UAE hits Iran’s economic lifeline | Decoding Trump’s speech | Special report| Eye for Iran | EP 97 |
Apr 3, 2026
Azadeh Akbadi, investigative reporter who exposed weapons moved into 70 civilian sites including schools. Gabe Groisman, Republican strategist analyzing Trump’s speech and strategic messaging. Mohammad Machine-chian, economic journalist on Iran’s currency and lifelines. Daniel Roth, investigator of shadow banking and sanctions enforcement. Miad Maleki, former U.S. Treasury sanctions strategist on Iran sanctions-evasion. They discuss UAE arrests hitting Iran’s money channels, Trump’s tone and ambiguity, and the risks of militarizing civilian sites.
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Dubai Shadow Banking Ties Back To Western Banks
- Dubai's shadow banking connects to Western correspondent banking, exposing major global banks.
- Daniel Roth notes FinCEN found $9 billion of Iran-related shadow transactions in 2024 and suspects the true scale may be much larger.
Prioritize Cracking Down On Exchange Houses
- Intensify enforcement on exchange houses and opaque company registries to disrupt networks.
- Daniel Roth recommends targeting exchange houses first and improving ownership transparency like Hong Kong and Singapore comparisons show weaknesses.
Alternate Routes Cannot Replace Dubai
- Turkey, Erbil and Herat are alternative channels but far less effective than the UAE.
- Miad Maleki explains Turkey provides land routes, gold procurement and informal travel-based currency swaps but lacks Dubai's liquidity and reach.