The word is Persian for “guide”. In US Treasury releases it names a private company tied to one sanctioned Iranian bank, which manages that bank’s clients’ foreign payments. Treasury says Iranian banks cut off from the international financial system rely on rahbars, which manage thousands of overseas shell companies used to execute payments for Iranian imports and exports.
Treasury separates rahbars from exchange houses: a rahbar works on behalf of a specific bank, while an exchange house often serves several banks and exporters at once. The two coordinate. FinCEN’s May 2026 alert says Iranian banks have established rahbar companies, and that these use Iranian exchange houses to set up front companies in third countries.