ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Department of the Treasury on Wednesday said it is designating three entities and one individual for “generating funding” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
The entities and individual based in Lebanon and Turkey were sanctioned “for providing critical financial support” to the IRGC’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah’s financial networks, the US Treasury said in a statement.
“These entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government,” read the statement.
The sanctions come at a time when US interests across Iraq and Syria are targeted by rocket and drone strikes from IRGC-backed militia groups. The groups claim their attacks are carried out in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip.
“Today’s action underscores our resolve to prevent the IRGC-QF and its proxy terrorist groups from exploiting the international trading system to fund their destabilizing activities,” said Under Secretary for the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, adding that “The United States will continue to take action to expose and disrupt these illicit schemes.”
On Sunday the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with IRGC claimed that it struck with three drones the al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, which resulted in the killing of at least three US troops and injuring 25 others.
American retaliatory attacks in Iraq have killed at least 12 members of the Iraqi state-linked and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The Iraqi government has repeatedly condemned the strikes as a "violation" of its sovereignty.
The sanctions seek to freeze assets that the designated officials possess under US jurisdiction, and bars all American companies or individuals from engaging with them.
Earlier in January, the US designated Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and several members of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah for providing assistance to the IRGC.
In November, the US imposed sanctions against six individuals affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, another Iran-backed group, in connection with the rocket and drone strikes on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.
The entities and individual based in Lebanon and Turkey were sanctioned “for providing critical financial support” to the IRGC’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah’s financial networks, the US Treasury said in a statement.
“These entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government,” read the statement.
The sanctions come at a time when US interests across Iraq and Syria are targeted by rocket and drone strikes from IRGC-backed militia groups. The groups claim their attacks are carried out in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip.
“Today’s action underscores our resolve to prevent the IRGC-QF and its proxy terrorist groups from exploiting the international trading system to fund their destabilizing activities,” said Under Secretary for the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, adding that “The United States will continue to take action to expose and disrupt these illicit schemes.”
On Sunday the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with IRGC claimed that it struck with three drones the al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, which resulted in the killing of at least three US troops and injuring 25 others.
American retaliatory attacks in Iraq have killed at least 12 members of the Iraqi state-linked and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The Iraqi government has repeatedly condemned the strikes as a "violation" of its sovereignty.
The sanctions seek to freeze assets that the designated officials possess under US jurisdiction, and bars all American companies or individuals from engaging with them.
Earlier in January, the US designated Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and several members of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah for providing assistance to the IRGC.
In November, the US imposed sanctions against six individuals affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, another Iran-backed group, in connection with the rocket and drone strikes on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.
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