US sanctions shipping network for supporting Iran's Quds Force and Hezbollah

The United States has announced sanctions on a large shipping network for allegedly financially providing financial support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah.

Some high-ranking IRGC-QF officials including IRGC-QF Commander Qasem Soleimani; IRGC-QF official Rostam Qasemi along with his son; subsidiaries of India-based Mehdi Group and its director, Ali Zaheer Mehdi have been added to the list of sanctions. Some 10 individuals, 16 entities, and 11 vessels have been added to the sanctions list.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action alleging that over the past year, the IRGC-QF has moved oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars or more through this network for the benefit of the Assad regime, Hezbollah, and other illicit actors.

According to the US Treasury Department, Senior IRGC-QF official and former Iranian Minister of Petroleum Rostam Qasemi oversees this network, which features dozens of ship managers, vessels, and facilitators.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, "Iran continues to take provocative actions to destabilize the region and the world. Treasury's action against this sprawling petroleum network makes it explicitly clear that those purchasing Iranian oil are directly supporting Iran's militant and terrorist arm, the IRGC-Qods Force."

"Our actions over the last two weeks should serve as a strong warning to anyone considering facilitating the Qods Force's oil sales that there will be swift consequences."

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said, "The Iranian regime is leveraging a terrorist organization as its chief conduit for obfuscating and selling hundreds of millions of dollars of illicit oil to fuel its nefarious agenda. Iran's exportation of oil directly funds acts of terrorism by Iranian proxies and atrocities by the Assad regime against innocent people."

"This vast oil-for-terror shipping network demonstrates how economically reliant Tehran is on the IRGC-QF and Hizballah as financial lifelines. The international community must vehemently reject Iranian oil and related products in the same way that it rejects the violent acts of terrorism these networks fund."