U.S. Sanctions ‘Vast Network’ Funding Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

The U.S. has sanctioned a “vast network” of 25 people and entities in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, who they accuse of helping Iran exchange over one billion dollars to finance Iranian military operations across the Middle East.

The U.S. Treasury announced on Monday that it was blacklisting 25 individuals and entities, including front companies located in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

The IRCG remains Iran’s most important powerful security organization and controls vast swathes of the Iranian economy and yields massive influence over the country’s political system.

“Today’s action exposes an extensive sanctions evasion network established by the Iranian regime, which it increasingly relies on as the United States’ maximum pressure campaign severely constricts the regime’s sources of revenue,” added the State Department in a statement.

The sanctions are designed to lock those responsible out of the global financial system by prohibiting both American citizens and businesses from dealing with them in any financial capacity.

“We are targeting a vast network of front companies and individuals located in Iran, Turkey, and the UAE to disrupt a scheme the Iranian regime has used to illicitly move more than a billion dollars in funds,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The IRGC, MODAFL, and other malign actors in Iran continue to exploit the international financial system to evade sanctions, while the regime funds terrorism and other destabilizing activities across the region.”

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker also explained that the sanctions prevented hostiles actors from evading the broader financial sanctions re-imposed by President Donald Trump after he axed Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime.

“This vast network is just the latest example of the Iranian regime’s use of deceptive practices to exploit the global financial system and divert resources to sanctioned entities,” he continued.  “This once again exposes to the international community the dangerous risks of operating in an Iranian economy that is deliberately opaque.

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