Iran Zamin Bank is to be restructured through the recovery of claims and transfer of assets, the central bank governor said, state banking media reported on August 20.

Abdolnasser Hemmati said the process was being carried out with the cooperation of two branches of government, and linked it to the recovery of central bank claims on the lender and the transfer of part of its property.

The announcement marks a departure from covering shortfalls at insolvent Iranian lenders through overdrafts on the central bank, a mechanism that expands the monetary base and feeds inflation.

The report characterised the asset seizures as part of a wider effort to close the gap between the bank's assets and its obligations, rather than a short-term liquidity fix.

There is recent precedent for tougher handling of failed lenders. The central bank revoked Ayandeh Bank's licence in October 2025 and merged it into Bank Melli Iran after accumulated losses of IRR5.5 quadrillion and a capital adequacy ratio of minus 600%, with attention afterwards turning to the bank's former management and the assets built up around it.

Hemmati took over at the Central Bank of Iran on December 31, replacing Mohammad Reza Farzin, who resigned after a record slide in the rial triggered the largest street protests in three years.

Upon taking office, Hemmati pledged economic stability, naming the restructuring of weak banks among his priorities, which have plagued the sector for several years after a previous non-banking asset-buying spree and branch expansions.

Iran Zamin is one of several private lenders reported to have negative capital ratios, alongside Sarmayeh, Day, and Melal, all of which were established during the former Ahmadinejad administration in the early 2000s. 

The Iran Zamin Bank situation is just the latest in a row of failing financial institutions in the country, following the Ayandeh Bank (previously Tat Bank) operation in 2025 being absorbed by the CBI after that bank was caught using its assets across several sectors including building the world's biggest mall on the western edge of Tehran at great cost to both private sector investors and the office of the supreme leader, according to some sources.

For the CBI, the Ayandeh issue continues to raise questions over the entire banking system's health, which has suffered from years of poor management and shocks from US and EU sanctions and continued Israeli hacks in recent months, including direct attacks on servers in several banks, according to several previous reports by IntelliNews. 

In October 2025, regulators placed Ayandeh Bank into resolution. Bank Melli Iran, the state lender, will absorb IRR267 trillion in deposits and all employees. Unaffiliated shareholders can settle at the highest share price over the past year, or wait for asset liquidation. Ansari's projects, those monuments to ambition, will be liquidated to repay creditors, Tasnim previously reported.

The Iranian rial remains at a historic low against the dollar (currently IRR1.9 million), while the entire economy remains on life support, with interest rates stubbornly high, making loans almost 100% risk for any financial operator in the market.