by Israel National News
US Treasury Department sanctions Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, accusing IRGC-linked body of trying to extort vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, funneling funds to Iran’s terror network.
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| Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz iStock |
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday took action against Iran’s so-called Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to monetize its campaign of state-sponsored terror by extorting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
"This entity spearheads an Iranian-controlled scheme that flagrantly violates international law and US sanctions," the Treasury stressed in a statement. "Anyone cooperating with the so-called strait authority may be providing support to and receiving services from the IRGC, which ultimately benefits from this attempted extortion, and may therefore be exposed to sanctions risk."
"The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "Through Economic Fury, the United States has imposed a financial stranglehold on the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions. Under President Trump’s leadership, we will remain relentless in our pursuit to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers through which Iran exports both its oil and malevolence."
Wednesday’s action builds on recent guidance warning of the sanctions risk for complying with Iranian demands for passage through the Strait of Hormuz such as "toll" payments, including payments made via fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments such as nominally charitable donations, and providing sensitive vessel information.
The Treasury also stressed that the action "is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. It continues the robust sanctions campaign targeting Iranian oil sales in support of Economic Fury and the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), instituting a campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran."
The statement stressed, "Through the blockade, the Trump Administration is directly targeting the regime’s primary revenue stream. Any person or vessel facilitating the illicit trade of oil or other commodities, through covert trade or financial channels, risks exposure to US sanctions."
"The Persian Gulf Strait Authority is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC."
In addition, the US Treasury clarified, "As a result of Wednesday’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked person described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons."
Israel National News
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/427733
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