US sanctions three individuals linked to IRGC's Quds Force

The US Treasury Department announced that it has sanctioned 16 individuals, entities and groups associated with regional terrorist organizations. Among the sanctions are three individuals associated with the Quds Force, who are accused of collaborating in money laundering and oil smuggling.

The US Treasury Department announced in a statement on Monday, June 6, that the Terrorist Financing Countermeasures Center (TFTC) has added 16 individuals, organizations, and groups, who are associated with many regional terrorist groups, to its sanctions list.

The center was established to strengthen multilateral cooperation between the United States and the Gulf states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to combat regional money laundering and terrorist financing.

Countries that cooperate in this center work to combat the terrorist financing network in the region through identification, prosecution, and information exchange.

According to a statement from the US Treasury Department, the sanctioned individuals include three individuals associated with the Quds Force who are accused of facilitating the sale of oil and money laundering for the Revolutionary Guards, including in cooperation with the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Three individuals linked to the Quds Force have been identified as Morteza Hashemi, Ali Qaseer, and Miqdad Amini, and are said to be associates of two networks that are directed and financed by the Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

One of the missions of these networks is to provide the IRGC with facilities through which it can sell the Islamic Republic's oil secretly, bypassing sanctions.

It is also said that the Quds Force uses the help of these individuals to launder money for Hezbollah leaders and companies and brokers involved in Iranian oil smuggling.

The new sanctions also include four individuals linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group, several financial backers of Boko Haram, and several terrorist groups operating in Bahrain.

The Center for Combating Terrorism Financing has added several individuals associated with the Quds Force to its sanctions list, while the Islamic Republic's insistence on removing the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations was apparently one of the main reasons for the suspension of the JCPOA revival talks in Vienna.

Source: DW