ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US said Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on an oil smuggling and money laundering network backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Russian government, as efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal appear in apparent jeopardy.
The designated network "has facilitated the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of oil for the IRGC-QF [Quds Force] and Hizballah, and spans several jurisdictions, including Iran and Russia,'' US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, claiming that the network is backed by "senior levels'' of the Russian government.
"We work vigorously to counter sanctions evasion and continue to strictly enforce sanctions on Iran's illicit oil trade," Blinken added, warning any potential buyers of Iranian oil about the prospect of facing US sanctions.
While the United States continues to seek a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA, we will not hesitate to target those who support the IRGC or Hizballah. We are designating an IRGC-QF-led and Russian-backed international oil smuggling and money laundering network.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 25, 2022
The network is led by the IRGC's elite Quds Force officials Behnam Shahriyari and Rostam Ghasemi, the latter of whom formerly held the position of Iran's oil minister. The US accuses Ghasemi of leveraging a Russian-based company to transfer millions of dollars from Russia on the IRGC-QF's behalf.
US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley told American lawmakers on Wednesday that "the odds of a successful negotiation are lower than the odds of failure" to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), blaming the seeming collapse of negotiations on "excessive Iranian demands to which we will not succumb."
Under former US President Donald Trump's administration, the US withdrew from the landmark nuclear accord and imposed biting sanctions in an effort to force Tehran to renegotiate a broader deal. President Joe Biden has sought to return to the deal.
Talks between world powers and Iran have stalled since mid-March as negotiators seek to return to the nuclear deal that curtailed Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Tehran has moreover sought a guarantee that future US administrations will not be able to withdraw from the accord.
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