The United States and six other countries imposed fresh sanctions today on half a dozen targets accused of helping fund the operations of the Islamic State (IS or ISIS), including by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group’s leaders in Iraq and Syria. 

The economic pressure helps “bring the US and our partners one step closer to disrupting terrorist financing networks around the world,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “The actions taken today serve as a further warning to individuals and businesses who provide financial support or material assistance to terrorist organizations."

The designations were announced by the seven-nation Terrorist Financing Targeting Center, which consists of the United States, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and has targeted a range of terrorist activity since its inception in 2017. 

Included in the sanctions are three Syrian money-services businesses the US Treasury Department said “played a vital role in transferring funds to support Syria-based ISIS fighters and have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of liquidity to ISIS leadership.”