US places sanctions on oil broker for allegedly supporting Quds force

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US Department of Treasury announced on Friday that sanctions were imposed on an accused oil smuggler in an international oil smuggling network allegedly responsible for funding Quds force operations in the region.

In a press release, Secretary of State Antony Blinkin noted that Iranian oil proceeds were being used to support the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) in their "malign activities" in the region.

“The IRGC-QF is using revenues from its Iranian petroleum sales to fund its malign activities at the expense of the Iranian people,” the director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Andrea M. Gacki was quoted in the press release. 

This comes as Washington urges Tehran to prioritize resuming nuclear negotiations in Vienna, saying the window to revive the nuclear accord will not remain open forever as Iran’s breakout time for producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon continues to shrink.

The sanctions freeze any US assets of those blacklisted, as well as generally prohibiting Americans from engaging in transactions with them. Foreign financial institutions also risk exposure to sanctions themselves if they provide support.

“The United States will continue to expose and disrupt those supporting such efforts,” said Blinken.

Among those named by OFAC was Mahmood Rashid Amur al-Habsi, an oil broker from Oman whose various companies were used to conceal the IRGC-QF's involvement in the sale and shipment of Iranian oil, according to the report. Shipments worth millions of dollars have been transported by al-Habsi's companies, such as Oman-based Nimr International L.L.C and Orbit Petrochemicals Trading LLC. 

Al-Habsi “tampered with the automated identification systems that are onboard vessels, forged shipping documents, and paid bribes, circumventing restrictions related to Iran” while maintaining oversight over shipping operations, the statement explained. 

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom and the United States condemned the attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum tanker off the coast of Oman that killed two people on August 1, both blaming Iran. 

Iran has denied involvement, saying "the Zionist regime has created insecurity, terror and violence... These accusations about Iran's involvement are condemned by Tehran," Reuters reported.