Intel: US sanctions oil broker reportedly linked to Iran’s Quds Force
The United States unveiled terrorism-related sanctions on an oil-smuggling operation with alleged links to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday as talks to resurrect the landmark nuclear deal remain in limbo.
In a statement announcing the designations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the IRGC’s elite overseas branch, known as the Quds Force, of funding its activities with revenue from Iranian oil sales.
“The United States will continue to expose and disrupt those supporting such efforts,” said Blinken, adding that the oil sales rely on foreign intermediaries to obscure the Quds Force’s involvement.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, an oil broker from Oman who the United States says worked with senior Quds Force officials and used several companies to facilitate Iranian oil shipments to foreign customers.
