US sanctions oil shipping network supporting Hezbollah, Quds Force
The Treasury Department accused a Gulf-based group of individuals and front companies of concealing the Iranian origins of oil shipments.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on members of an international oil smuggling network accused of generating revenue for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The designations targeted what the US Treasury Department said was a Gulf-based group of individuals and front companies that used storage units in the United Arab Emirates’ Port of Sharjah and blended oil shipments to conceal their Iranian origin. Modified or counterfeit certificates were given to the oil shipments before their sale abroad, the department said.
Treasury designated six individuals, 17 entities and 11 vessels involved in the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil on behalf of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the IRGC’s Quds Force. The oil-smuggling network was sanctioned under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorist organizations and their supporters.
“The individuals running this illicit network use a web of shell companies and fraudulent tactics including document falsification to obfuscate the origins of Iranian oil, sell it on the international market and evade sanctions,” said Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
