ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A regional task force on combatting the financing of terrorism and money laundering placed three individuals on a sanctions list for providing financial support to the Quds Force, the external arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and to Lebanese Hezbollah.
The three individuals identified as Ali Qasir, Meghdad Amini, and Morteza Hashemi are already on the US Treasury Department list and were named by the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The center was created in order to enhance multilateral efforts between the US and Gulf countries to counter money laundering and terrorism financing networks in the region.
“These complex networks of intermediaries allow the IRGC-QF to obfuscate its involvement in selling Iranian oil. The IRGC-QF also relies on these individuals to launder money for Hizballah [Hezbollah] officials and front companies and to broker associated contracts,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The Treasury Department said that Amini and Qasir directed a network of 20 individuals and front companies in multiple jurisdictions to facilitate the movement and sale of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of gold, electronics, and foreign currency to help the Quds Force and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organization by Washington.
Hashemi on the other hand operated mostly in Hong Kong and China, and according to the Treasury Department, he used “his access to the international financial system to launder vast sums of money for the IRGC-QF and Hizballah [Hezbollah].” Hashemi also used Chinese nationals to open bank accounts and used these individuals to purchase “U.S.-origin, dual-use products for onward shipment to Iran.”
All three individuals were sanctioned by the US in the past years for their roles in helping the Quds Force which was sanctioned by the US in 2007. The three individuals were amongst 16 individuals, entities and groups that were sanctioned including two groups operating out of Bahrain and reportedly directed by IRGC.
Oman, a member of the TFTC task force, has played a critical role in acting as an intermediary between Tehran and the world powers to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. It is not clear if Monday’s action in sanctioning the IRGC-linked individuals and groups will impact the way in which Iran perceives Oman.
An Iranian official from the oil ministry, who did not want to be named, told state-run agency IRNA that in the first two months of this Iranian year of 1401, which started on 21st of March, Tehran has managed to increase its oil revenue by 60 percent. In the first two months of last Iranian years, the revenue stood at 4.5 billion dollars but this year it jumped to 7.5 billion dollars.
Iran is currently at loggerheads with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over traces of uranium found in at least two undeclared sites, with the agency pushing Iran to provide an explanation.
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