The U.S. Department of the Treasury has blocked the assets and stateside transactions of three companies and an individual based in Lebanon and Turkey for their association with Iranian and Hezbollah-affiliated terror groups.
The entities generate funds from selling Iranian commodities, including sales to the Syrian government. Their revenues provide key opportunities for “hundreds of millions of dollars” worth of support to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Wednesday.
Included in OFAC’s new sanctions list is the Turkish global trader Ihracat Ithalat Petrol, which is linked to Ali Qasir, an Iran-based Hezbollah finance conduit. The named individual is Ibrahim Talal al-Uwayr, CEO and owner of the Turkey-based Mira Ihracat Ithalat Petrol engaged in global trading on Iranian commodities.
Sanctions were also imposed on the Lebanon-based Yara Offshore, a facilitator of commercial transactions likely beneficial to IRGC-QF and Hezbollah. Another Lebanon firm, Hydro Company for Drilling Equipment Rental, was seen behind Iranian commodity shipments to Syria that generated funding for IRGC-QF.
In December, OFAC announced sanctions on several companies and individuals based in the Middle East and East Asia for exporting U.S.-made and American-designed components to support Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing.