The US sanctions 20 companies and financial institutions affiliated with the Basij Cooperative Foundation
On Tuesday, October 14, the US Treasury Department targeted a network of financial institutions and companies affiliated with the "Basij Cooperative Foundation" with new sanctions, which it said provide financial resources to Iranian militia forces.
These forces are accused of training child soldiers and using them to fight alongside the Revolutionary Guards.
According to the US Treasury Department, this network includes at least 20 companies and financial institutions that are under the supervision of the "Basij Cooperative Foundation".
Iran Tractor Manufacturing Companies, Mobarakeh Steel Industries of Isfahan, Bank Mellat, and Mehr Eqtads Novin are among the institutions that have been targeted by new US sanctions.
Other institutions and companies include "Parsian Bank", "Mehr Eghtesads Iranian Investment Company", "Tadbirgaran Atieh Investment Company", "Royal Sahel Negin Company", "Mehr Eghtesads Financial Group", "Technator Engineering Company", "Taktar Investment Company", "Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company", "Iran Zinc Mine Development Company" and "Bandar Abbas Zinc Production Company".
The Basij Cooperative Foundation is accused of using these companies and institutions to provide cover for its multi-billion dollar businesses in the automotive, mining, steel, and banking sectors.
The US Treasury Department says that under these sanctions, American citizens are not allowed to do business with this network and their assets will be confiscated.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement issued for this purpose: "The sanctions on these multi-billion dollar financial institutions are because they support Iranian militias."
According to him, Iran's military establishment recruits child soldiers and trains them to serve in the Revolutionary Guards.
According to a statement from the US Treasury Department, "the Basij resistance force has been providing religious instruction to students and providing military training to Iranian and Afghan refugee children, some as young as 12, and sending them to fight on the Syrian front."
Referring to the companies and institutions sanctioned, Mr. Mnuchin stated: "This extensive network provides the financial structure for the Basij's efforts to recruit, train, and indoctrinate child soldiers who enter the military under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."
He added: “The international community must understand that trade with the Basij Cooperative Foundation network and IRGC front companies has serious humanitarian consequences. This trade strengthens the Iranian regime’s violent ambitions in the Middle East.”
According to Reuters, the sanctions are part of a US economic campaign to pressure Iran for its "aggressive approach in the region and human rights abuses."
Mehr Eqtesad Novin Bank, formerly known as the "Mehr Basijian Loan Institution", is affiliated with the Cooperative Foundation of the Basij Organization for the Underprivileged.
Mehr Eghtesad Iranian Investment Company, affiliated with the Basij Cooperative Foundation, also owns a portion of Mobarakeh Steel's shares. The company also purchased shares in Tabriz Tractor Sazi in 2008.
Mehr Eghtesad Iranian Company has also purchased shares of some other companies, including Iralco, Sadra, Technotaz, Industrial Development Investment Company, and Jaber Bin Hayyan Pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, a senior US official said: Iran has seen a "dramatic decline" in oil exports since the US withdrew from the JCPOA and the return of sanctions.
On May 8 of this year, Donald Trump's administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal with six world powers, known as the "JCPOA," and in mid-August, it reinstated the first round of sanctions against Tehran that had been suspended due to the JCPOA.
The second round of US sanctions, the main goal of which is to reduce Iranian oil sales to zero, will take effect in mid-November.
Source: Radio Farda
