The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on an international oil smuggling network it accused of supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force, as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran.
In a statement, the US Treasury Department said it designated members of the network that facilitated oil trades and generated revenue for Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Quds Force, an arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that operates abroad, both of which are under US sanctions.
The moves come as Washington has piled pressure on Tehran as efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled and ties between Iran and the West are increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests despite an increasingly deadly state crackdown.
The Treasury statement said the network designated on Thursday included key individuals, front companies and vessels it accused of being involved in blending oil to conceal the Iranian origins of the shipments and exporting it around the world in support of the Quds Force and Hezbollah.
Brian Nelson, the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement that “market participants should be vigilant of Hezbollah and the IRGC-QF’s attempts to generate revenue from oil smuggling to enable their terrorist activities around the world.”
The move targeted a Gulf-based network that the Treasury said as of mid-2022 were blending and exporting Iranian oil.
Washington said the network used storage units in the Port of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and blended products of Indian origin with Iranian oil to obfuscate the origin.
The Treasury added that the companies modified or created counterfeit certificates of origin and quality for the oil, which was then transferred for sale abroad.
As of late 2021, some oil sales were planned to Asia buyers, it added.
