ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday said that his country’s latest sanctions against Iran-linked groups and entities are part of Washington’s efforts against Iran-backed entities and individuals. The US has recently slapped sanctions against several entities and individuals, including an Iraqi bank and airline. These were “part of our ongoing efforts to hold accountable entities and individuals who generate funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah to finance their destabilising activities,” Miller told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Wednesday. The Department of the Treasury earlier on Wednesday said it was designating three entities and one individual for “generating funding” for IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. The entities and individuals 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.” Last week the Treasury also sanctioned Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and three members of Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah, including an Iraqi member of parliament for providing assistance to the IRGC. The sanctions come at a time when US interests across Iraq and Syria have been targeted by rocket and drone strikes by IRGC-backed militia groups at least 165 times, according to the Pentagon. The groups claim their attacks are carried out in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip.
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