US Sanctions Three Individuals Linked to Quds Force
The US Treasury Department announced that it has sanctioned 16 individuals, entities and groups linked to regional terrorist organizations. Among those sanctioned are three individuals connected to the Quds Force who have been accused of involvement in money laundering and oil smuggling.
The US Treasury Department announced on Monday, June 6, in a statement that the Counter Terrorism Financing Center (CTFC) has added 16 individuals, entities and groups associated with numerous regional terrorist groups to its sanctions list.
This center was established to strengthen US multilateral cooperation with countries in the Persian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to combat regional money laundering and terrorism financing.
Countries cooperating within this center work to counter terrorist financing networks in the region through identifying, pursuing and exchanging information.
According to the US Treasury Department statement, the sanctioned individuals include three people linked to the Quds Force who have been accused of, among other things, collaborating with Lebanese Hezbollah to facilitate illegal oil sales and money laundering for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Three Quds Force-related individuals have been identified as Morteza Hashemi, Ali Qassir and Moghaddas Amini, and are said to be associates of two networks managed and financed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Hezbollah.
One of these networks’ missions is to provide the Guard Corps with the means to sell Iranian oil while bypassing sanctions and in a covert manner.
It is also stated that the Quds Force benefits from the assistance of these individuals for money laundering purposes on behalf of Hezbollah leaders and companies and dealers involved in Iranian oil smuggling.
The new sanctions also include four individuals linked to the terrorist organization ISIS and several financial supporters of Boko Haram and several terrorist groups active in Bahrain.
The Counter Terrorism Financing Center has added individuals linked to the Quds Force to its sanctions list at a time when Iran’s apparent insistence on removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations has been cited as a main reason for the suspension of talks on the revival of the JCPOA in Vienna.
Source: DW
