The US unveiled sanctions Thursday against 26 people, firms and ships allegedly associated with a Syrian conglomerate making hundreds of millions of dollars selling oil on behalf of Iran and its proxies.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that its designations were related to the Al-Qatirji Company, which it accuses of generating vast revenues for the Houthis and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) -- the IRGC's foreign operations.
The firm did this by selling Iranian oil to Syria and China, the Treasury said, adding that it had previously facilitated the sale of fuel between Syria and jihadist group Islamic State.
"Iran is increasingly relying on key business partners like the Al-Qatirji Company to fund its destabilizing activities and web of terrorist proxies across the region," said Bradley Smith, acting Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
He added that "Treasury will continue to take all available measures to restrict the Iranian regime's ability to profit from the illicit schemes that enable its dangerous regional agenda."
The Treasury statement said Al-Qatirji had made millions by exporting Iranian oil, allowing the IRGC-QF to generate hundreds of millions of dollars, much of which was then laundered through cities including Istanbul and Beirut.
These actions, it added, have made the Syrian conglomerate "one of the main channels through which the IRGC-QF generates revenue and funds its regional proxy groups."
With AFP
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