US Treasury Department sanctions two Iranians for “supporting the Taliban”
The United States imposed sanctions on two Iranian citizens linked to the overseas branch of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also announced sanctions against the IRGC and several of its commanders, prompting a response from IRGC officials.
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on eight individuals, including two Iranians linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, for allegedly supporting the Afghan Taliban terrorist group. “The United States and our partners will not tolerate the Iranian regime’s approach of exploiting Afghanistan to consolidate its destabilizing behavior,” the department said in a statement on its website.
Two Pakistani citizens and four Afghan citizens are the other sanctioned individuals.
According to the US Treasury Department, these "key Taliban" individuals have been sanctioned in US cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
The US Treasury Department recently placed Isfahan's Mobarakeh Steel Industries, Tabriz Tractor Manufacturing Company, and 20 companies and financial institutions affiliated with the Basij Cooperative Foundation on the US sanctions list.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Sanction the IRGC and Soleimani
On Tuesday, October 24, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also placed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its overseas branch commander, Qassem Soleimani, as well as Abdolreza Shahlai and Hamed Abdollahi, on their lists of terrorist individuals and organizations.
In 2011, in connection with the “plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States,” Hamed Abdullahi, a senior officer in Iran’s Quds Force, was named as a suspect in the “terror operation.” Abdolreza Shahlai, a deputy to Qassem Soleimani and the commander of the Quds Force, was also named as the person responsible for overseeing the operation. At that time, the United States, Canada, and the European Union added these individuals to their sanctions list.
Reactions from the Revolutionary Guards
The deputy parliamentary leader of the Revolutionary Guards described the Saudi and Bahraini actions as “an attempt to save themselves from the quagmire of Khashoggi’s assassination.” Brigadier General Mohammad Saleh Jokar also referred to the conditions in Yemen and Syria, describing the aforementioned actions as “psychological operations in the region” and an attempt to “distort public opinion.”
Also, General Esmail Kowsari, a former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and deputy of the "Tharallah Headquarters" of the Revolutionary Guards, has taken a similar stance and described the Saudi and Bahraini actions as "a forward flight to save Saudi Arabia from the quagmire it has fallen into."
Source: DW
