WASHINGTON, The U.S. has sanctioned nearly 50 entities and individuals that constitute multiple branches of a sprawling “shadow banking” network used by IranÂ’s military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to gain illicit access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020.
IranÂ’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) engage in several commercial revenue-generating activities, most notably the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, the Department of the TreasuryÂ’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a release.
Networks of Iranian exchange houses and dozens of foreign cover companies under their control enable MODAFL and the IRGC to disguise the revenue they generate abroad that is then available to use for a range of MODAFL and IRGC activities, including the procurement and development of advanced weapons systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, it added.
This revenue also
supports the provision of weapons and funding to IranÂ’s regional proxy groups, including YemenÂ’s Houthis, who continue a campaign of reckless attacks on global shipping, as well as the transfer of UAVs to Russia for use in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
“The United States is taking action against a vast shadow banking system used by IranÂ’s military to launder billions of dollars of oil proceeds and other illicit revenue,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo in a statement.
“We have sanctioned hundreds of targets involved in IranÂ’s illicit oil and petrochemical-related activity since President Biden took office, and we will continue to pursue those who seek to finance IranÂ’s destabilizing terrorist activities. We continue to work with allies and partners, as well as the global financial industry, to increase vigilance against the movement of funds supporting terrorism,” he added.
Source: Kuwait News Agency