U.S. Sanctions Broker, Businesses in Iran Oil-Smuggling Network

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. sanctioned an individual and businesses it says are involved in an oil-smuggling network that supports Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.

The Treasury Department on Friday placed financial restrictions on a foreign broker, Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, who worked with senior Revolutionary Guard officials and facilitated shipments of Iranian oil, including to customers in East Asia, according to a department statement.

The sanctions included businesses associated with al Habsi, including his Oman-based company, Nimr International Llc, which Treasury said facilitates the shipment of Iranian oil. Also sanctioned was Oman-based Orbit Petrochemicals Trading Llc, which facilitated oil deals to obscure the Revolutionary Guard’s involvement, Treasury said.

Senior officials in the Revolutionary Guard use proceeds from Iranian oil exports to help fund the group’s activities, the Treasury Department said.

The move comes as efforts to revive the multinational nuclear deal on Iran have faltered and amid heightened tensions with the inauguration of Iran’s new hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi.

Read more: iden’s Iran Nuclear Deal Ambitions Shrink as Tensions Flare

There also has been a spate of  incidents this month including rocket strikes on Israel by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and the attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman. Iran has denied responsibility for the strike on the HV Mercer Street, which killed a Romanian and a British citizen and added to jitters in oil markets.

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