عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

US Sanctions Ex-Israeli General, 2 Others over South Sudan War

The US sanctions three individuals for their role during the South Sudan civil war. (Reuters)
The US sanctions three individuals for their role during the South Sudan civil war. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

US Sanctions Ex-Israeli General, 2 Others over South Sudan War

The US sanctions three individuals for their role during the South Sudan civil war. (Reuters)
The US sanctions three individuals for their role during the South Sudan civil war. (Reuters)

Three people were sanctioned by the United States on Friday for their roles in South Sudan’s five-year civil war.

A Treasury statement named the three as retired Israeli military official Israel Ziv and South Sudanese businessman Obac William Olawo, for leading entities whose actions have extended the conflict, and South Sudanese official Gregory Vasili, "for actions that have undermined peace, stability, and security."

Washington said it will continue to target those who "profit off the misery and suffering of the South Sudanese people."

The US also designated six entities owned or controlled by Ziv and Olawo.

The US statement said Ziv, a retired Israeli Defense Forces major general, supplied arms and ammunition to both sides in the civil war. It said he used an agricultural company as a front to sell "approximately $150 million worth of weapons to the government, including rifles, grenade launchers, and shoulder-fired rockets."

"While Ziv maintained the loyalty of senior Government of South Sudan officials through bribery and promises of security support, he has also reportedly planned to organize attacks by mercenaries on South Sudanese oil fields and infrastructure, in an effort to create a problem that only his company and affiliates could solve," it said.

Vasili who -- while governor of Gogrial State in South Sudan in 2017 -- "oversaw an explosion of intra-clan ethnic violence that resulted in scores of civilians being killed and thousands displaced from their homes."

"Separate from his aggravation of local conflict, Vasili has been involved in various illicit activities, including involvement in a major food procurement scandal and winning gas contracts from the South Sudanese military while he was still serving in it," it said.

Olawo, the US said, "routinely imported standard and armored vehicles for the government of South Sudan, and as of mid-2018 was engaged in the trade and shipment of arms."

Watchdog group The Sentry quickly praised the US move. "Today's sanctions clearly show the intersection between corruption and armed conflict in South Sudan," said Joshua White, the group's director of policy and analysis, in a statement.

"We need more of these designations to chip away at the violent kleptocracy."

There was no immediate response from South Sudan's government, which has bristled at rising US criticism and pressure, including the threat to withdraw aid. The US is reviewing its assistance to the country, National Security Adviser John Bolton said Thursday.

The statement said the US is targeting people who have "provided soldiers, armored vehicles, and weapons used to fuel the conflict."

Washington has expressed growing exasperation over South Sudan and those it says are blocking the path to peace. It led efforts in the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country earlier this year.

The civil war has killed nearly 400,000 people. The sanctions were announced a day before the devastated East African nation marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the fighting. The warring sides signed a new peace deal in September, though fighting and abuses continue in some areas.

Most Viewed

 
World

CIA Chief Told Lawmakers Iran Nuclear Program Set Back Years with Strikes on Metal Conversion Site

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Fordo enrichment facility in Iran, on June 29, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Fordo enrichment facility in Iran, on June 29, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
TT
20
TT

CIA Chief Told Lawmakers Iran Nuclear Program Set Back Years with Strikes on Metal Conversion Site

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Fordo enrichment facility in Iran, on June 29, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Fordo enrichment facility in Iran, on June 29, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told skeptical US lawmakers that American military strikes destroyed Iran's lone metal conversion facility and in the process delivered a monumental setback to Tehran’s nuclear program that would take years to overcome, a US official said Sunday.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence, said Ratcliffe laid out the importance of the strikes on the metal conversion facility during a classified hearing for US lawmakers last week.

Details about the private briefings surfaced as President Donald Trump and his administration keep pushing back on questions from Democratic lawmakers and others about how far Iran was set back by the strikes before last Tuesday’s ceasefire with Israel took hold.

“It was obliterating like nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.”

Ratcliffe also told lawmakers that the intelligence community assessed the vast majority of Iran's amassed enriched uranium likely remains buried under the rubble at Isfahan and Fordo, two of the three key nuclear facilities targeted by US strikes.

But even if the uranium remains intact, the loss of its metal conversion facility effectively has taken away Tehran's ability to build a bomb for years to come, the official said.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Sunday on CBS' “Face the Nation” that the three Iranian sites with “capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium have been destroyed to an important degree.”

But, he added, “some is still standing” and that because capabilities remain, “if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.” He said assessing the full damage comes down to Iran allowing in inspectors.

"Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared, and there is nothing there," Grossi said.

Trump has insisted from just hours after three key targets were struck by US bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk missiles that Iran's nuclear program was “obliterated.”

His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said they were “destroyed.” A preliminary report issued by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, meanwhile, said the strikes did significant damage to the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan sites, but did not totally destroy the facilities.

As a result of Israeli and US strikes, Grossi says that “it is clear that there has been severe damage, but it’s not total damage." Israel claims it has set back Iran’s nuclear program by “many years.”

The metal conversion facility that Ratcliffe said was destroyed was located at the Isfahan nuclear facility. The process of transforming enriched uranium gas into dense metal, or metallization, is a key step in building the explosive core of a bomb.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in comments at the NATO summit last week also suggested that it was likely the US strikes had destroyed the metal conversion facility.

“You can’t do a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility," Rubio said. "We can’t even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. You can’t even find where it used to be because the whole thing is just blackened out. It’s gone. It’s wiped out.”

The CIA director also stressed to lawmakers during the congressional briefing that Iran’s air defense was shattered during the 12-day assault. As a result, any attempt by Iran to rebuild its nuclear program could now easily be thwarted by Israeli strikes that Iran currently has little wherewithal to defend against, the official said.

Ratcliffe's briefing to lawmakers on the US findings appeared to mesh with some of Israeli officials' battle damage assessments.

Israeli officials have determined that Iran's ability to enrich uranium to a weapons-grade level was neutralized for a prolonged period, according to a senior Israeli military official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the matter.

Tehran's nuclear program also was significantly damaged by the strikes killing key scientists, damage to Iran's missile production industry and the battering of Iran's aerial defense system, according to the Israeli's assessment.

Grossi, and some Democrats, note that Iran still has the know-how.

“You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have,” Grossi said, emphasizing the need to come to a diplomatic deal on the country's nuclear program.