A decision published in the Official Gazette requires the Istanbul branch of 100% state-owned Bank Mellat to shut down following a cancellation of its operating permit by Turkey's banking regulator BDDK. The agency determined that the lender's presence posed a risk to the financial system and depositors' rights, ending a regional operation that began in 1982.

The Iranian lender had already lost access to the SWIFT network and Turkey's EFT system due to US sanctions. On Sept. 8, the US Treasury sanctioned Turkish investment bank Golden Global and 36 targets in Iran's aviation sector under Operation Economic Outcast, though the Turkish regulator's official notice did not explicitly cite these measures.