Bank Saderat Iran has around 3,500 offices in 12 countries and territories across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and around 10 million customers.

Bank Saderat Iran was founded on September 7, 1952, by the Bolurfrushan family, Mohammad Ali Mofrah, and several of his associates.

It was temporarily housed in an upper floor of a building overlooking the central branch of Bank Melli Iran in Takyeh Dowlat, Tehran.

The bank officially began operations on November 13, 1952, with the opening of its first branch, which employed 25 staff members.

Iranian banks are administered on the basis of a law passed by the Islamic Revolution Council on 25 September 1979, and the provisions of its Articles of Association.

Bank Saderat is used by the Government of Iran to transfer money to what the U.S. has stated are designated terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In February 2013, the European General Court in Luxembourg ruled to annul sanctions by the European Union (EU) against the bank, stating that the EU "is in breach of the obligation to state reasons and the obligation to disclose to the applicant ... the evidence adduced against it".