US Treasury imposes sanctions on alleged oil smuggler, companies linked to Iran’s Quds Force

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on an alleged oil smuggler and companies it said provide support to the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a statement.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted Mahmood Rashid Amur Al-Habsi and a network of businesses, it said. 

According to the statement, Al-Habsi partnered with senior leaders in the Quds Force and used several companies to facilitate the sale of shipments of Iranian oil to foreign customers, including buyers in East Asia.

The OFAC director Andrea Jacki said Iranian oil sales to the Revolutionary Guards “rely on important foreign intermediaries to conceal the Quds Force’s involvement,” with the Treasury adding that the proceeds of which go toward funding “regional destabilizing activities.”

* With Reuters