New U.S. counterterrorism sanctions on a “wide range of terrorists and their supporters” were announced Tuesday night on the eve of Sept. 11 terror attack commemorations.
The targets include 15 leaders, individuals and entities affiliated with groups such as Palestinian Hamas, al Qaeda, Islamic State and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
The sanctions were applied using new tools from an executive order recently updated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Since the horrific attacks of 9/11, the U.S. government has refocused its counterterrorism efforts to constantly adapt to emerging threats,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said as he announced the moves in a White House press conference.
“President Trump’s modernized counterterrorism Executive Order enhances the authorities we use to target the finances of terror groups and their leaders to ensure they are as robust as possible,” Mnuchin said.
One of the targets mentioned by name was Muhammad Sa’id Izadi, identified by the Treasury as “the chief of the Palestinian Office of the IRGC-QF Lebanon Corp.”
The IRGC was formed in 1979 in the wake of the Islamic Revolution, with a stated mission of defending the regime against both domestic and international threats, and has been accused of providing material support to Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
IRGC authorities have arrested over 7,000 individuals so far this year over for their involvement in nationwide demonstrations against the regime. Others targeted have included student organizers, journalists, environmentalists, workers, and human rights activists.
The U.S. designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in April, arguing it operates as the “Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.”
Zaher Jabarin, the Turkey-based head of Hamas’ finance office, was also personally blacklisted by Washington.
The new sanctions are part of the Trump administration’s escalating campaign of economic and diplomatic measures against Iran since unilaterally withdrawing last year from the Obama-negotiated JCPOA international accord.