The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on a foreign broker, involved in an international oil smuggling network that supports Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The Omani broker, Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, has partnered with senior IRGC-QF officials and used several companies to facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to foreign customers, including buyers in East Asia, according to an official statement by the US Department of Treasury.
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As informed, the designations target Oman-based company, Nimr International L.L.C. and Orbit Petrochemicals Trading LLC, as well as Liberian-registered company Bravery Maritime Corporation and Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker Oman Pride, which has been used to transport Iranian oil. As part of his oversight of shipping operations, Al Habsi has tampered with the AIS that are onboard vessels, forged shipping documents, and paid bribes, circumventing restrictions related to Iran, the Department said.
Senior IRGC-QF officials use proceeds from their involvement in Iranian oil exports to help fund the group’s destabilizing regional activities.
The IRGC-QF is using revenues from its Iranian petroleum sales to fund its malign activities at the expense of the Iranian people. These sales rely on key foreign intermediaries to obscure the IRGC-QF’s involvement, and Treasury will continue to disrupt and expose anyone supporting these efforts,
…said Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki.
The action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction of the persons designated are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designated persons or their blocked property.
