WASHINTONG: The Treasury Department said the United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 22 companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey for helping sell Iranian oil.
It said the oil sales benefit the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s most powerful paramilitary organization. The United States has designated Quds as a foreign terrorist organization.
The Treasury said the Quds Force employs front companies outside Iran that use offshore accounts to move hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from Iranian oil sales to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
The money funds Iran’s weapons programs and proxy groups across the region, according to the Treasury Department, which has imposed a wave of sanctions targeting such activities.
“The Iranian regime relies heavily on its shadow banking system to fund its destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs rather than benefiting the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said.
