US sanctions network supporting elite Iranian forces, Tehran-backed Iraqi terror groups

The U.S. State Department announced sanctions on Thursday against a support network for Iranian armed forces and Tehran-backed militias in Iraq.

The designation falls on eight people and entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Quds Force, along with the Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militias in Iran.

The Trump administration says that those sanctioned on Thursday help the Iranian regime smuggle weapons and evade U.S. sanctions and that they take part in widespread graft and corruption in Iraq, undermining the formation of a fully functioning Iraqi government.

The Iraqi militias are also responsible for the deaths of U.S. personnel.

"These actions disrupt illicit funding streams financing Iran’s malign activities, including Iran’s exploitation of and interference in Iraq’s economy, and safeguard Iraqi resources from graft and corruption," stated Tommy Pigott, principal deputy U.S. State Department spokesman.

The administration targeted money-laundering bankers and "IRGC assets that operate a source network that gathers information, including on U.S. forces," the U.S. Treasury Department stated.

"We are working to dismantle the financial networks that enable these terrorist groups to operate," stated John Hurley, U.S. Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Cutting off their financial flows is essential to protecting American lives and our national security."

The Quds Force is responsible for the Islamic Republic’s extraterritorial operations, providing support to terror proxies throughout the region, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Kata’ib Hezbollah—a U.S.-designated terror group, as are the IRGC and Quds Force—was responsible for the March 2023 kidnapping of Russian-Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was freed last month after 903 days under heavy American pressure.

© JNS.