The United States unveiled sweeping sanctions Tuesday against almost 50 individuals and companies it says were part of a “shadow banking” network that moved billions of dollars for Iran’s military.
The sanctions target a network of Iranian exchange houses and foreign firms that enabled Iran’s defense ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to disguise revenues generated abroad, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The State Department report identified entities that have facilitated illegal trade and the sale of drones in support of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the regime’s UAV program.
“The United States is taking action against a vast shadow banking system used by Iran’s military to launder billions of dollars of oil proceeds and other illicit revenue,” Treasury deputy secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
“We have sanctioned hundreds of targets involved in Iran’s illicit oil and petrochemical-related activity since President Biden took office, and we will continue to pursue those who seek to finance Iran’s destabilizing terrorist activities,” he added.
Concurrent with this action, Canada and the United Kingdom are imposing sanctions targeting several individuals and entities involved in Iran’s drone procurement and other military-related activities.
The sanctions unveiled Tuesday target companies and individuals around the world, including Iran, Turkey, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the tiny Pacific island nation of the Marshall Islands, which has a defense and security agreement with the United States.
Also among the targets is Sahara Thunder, a significant front company for MODAFL’s illicit financing and a central entity in Iran’s design, development, manufacturing, and sale of thousands of drones, many of which have been sent to Russia for use in its military campaign in Ukraine.
In the statement the US said it will continue to hold Iran accountable for its transfer of UAVs and other dangerous military equipment to Russia and to regional proxies such as Yemen’s Houthi insurgents.
