The United States has imposed a raft of new sanctions on nearly 50 entities, companies and people that it claims have been helping the Iranian military transfer billions of dollars worth of funds between various countries.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department that the network it had slapped sanctions on had helped Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) process and transfer funds allegedly earned from sale of oil and petrochemicals since 2020.
It said the network included exchange houses in Iran and foreign cover companies they manage in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Marshall Islands and Turkey.
It claimed the network had enabled MODAFL and the IRGC to launder revenues from oil sales to supply weapons and funding to groups close to Iran, including the ruling Houthi Ansarullah movement in Yemen, as well as for provision of drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
Iran has repeatedly rejected allegations that it has been supplying weapons or funding to groups like the Houthis. Authorities insist that the Yemenis have been self-sufficient in design, development and manufacture of equipment they have used in their attacks on Israeli, US and British ships in regional waters in recent months.
Tehran has also denied supplying weapons to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine.
However, Washington has used the accusations to impose more sanctions on Iran amidst a campaign of maximum pressure on the country that started in 2018 after the US withdrew from an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran calls the sanctions part of economic war
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations issued a statement late on Tuesday to condemn the new sanctions imposed by the US.
“This is part of the economic war unjustly waged against the Iranian people by the United States. They have attacked, and we are defending ourselves accordingly. The outcome of this economic war will be determined by the strength of will, not by the capabilities of imposing sanctions,” said the statement.