US cracks down on Iranian oil smuggling network, Hezbollah-linked bank in fresh sanctions

The officials, the department said, conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited, but obscured, Hezbollah.

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday against a business network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil, as well as sanctions targeting a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.

The network of companies run by Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said in statement.

”Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned several vessels that are accused of engaging in the covert delivery of Iranian oil, intensifying pressure on Iran’s “shadow fleet,” it said.

The Treasury Department also issued sanctions against several senior officials and one entity associated with the Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

The officials, the department said, conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited, but obscured, Hezbollah.