TFTC Imposes Joint Iranian Sanctions

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center announced joint sanctions on 25 people, banks and entities affiliated with Iranian terrorism groups in the center’s “largest joint designation to date,” the Treasury Department said in an Oct. 30 press release. The TFTC -- composed of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar -- sanctioned a “vast network” of businesses funding the Basij Resistance Force and people associated with Hizballah, Treasury said.

The group sanctioned 21 businesses for supporting Basij and Bonyad Taavon Basij, which uses shell companies to hide Basij’s ownership of Iran’s multibillion-dollar “business interests” in the country’s auto, mining, metal and banking industries, Treasury said. The four designated people led Hizballah’s “operational, intelligence, and financial activities” in Iraq, the press release said. The U.S. previously imposed unilateral sanctions against the business network and the Hizballah officials in 2018.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the joint sanctions represent “Gulf unity” against Iran. “This coordinated action is a concrete step towards denying the Iranian regime the ability to undermine the stability of the region,” he said in a statement.