US, Gulf allies sanction Hizbullah-Iran network

WASHINGTON: The United States and six Gulf allies announced sanctions on Wednesday on 25 entities associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon’s Hizbullah, in a move to tighten controls on both group’s finances.

The sanctions were set by Riyadh-based Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre, a two-year-old group that includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in addition to the United States.

They targeted companies supporting the Basij Resistance Force, a subordinate group of the Revolutionary Guard, that the Treasury said are used "to oppress domestic opposition with brutal displays of violence" and supply fighters to regional conflicts. Among the 25 was Iranian Bank Mellat and mining, manufacturing and investment firms that allegedly support the Basij.

Four of those listed were individuals running Hezbullah’s operations in Iraq, the Treasury said. All 25 have previously been named in US Treasury sanctions announced in 2018.

"The TFTC’s coordinated disruption of the financial networks used by the Iranian regime to fund terrorism is a powerful demonstration of Gulf unity," said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.

"This action demonstrates the unified position of the Gulf nations and the United States that Iran will not be allowed to escalate its malign activity in the region," said Mnuchin, who addressed a business forum in Riyadh on Wednesday.