Aviation securityIranian airline sanctioned for ties to terrorism
On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, for supporting terrorism
Treasury-imposed sanctions render Mahan unable to operate // Source: airplane-pictures.net
On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, for supporting terrorism.
According to the Treasury Department, the airline provided transportation, funds transfers, and personnel travel services to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.
The sanctions come after the revelation on Tuesday that Iranian agents operating in the United States with the aid of Quds officers were plotting to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. The convoluted assassination attempt also included a side deal between the Quds Force and Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel, to funnel tons of opium from the Middle East to Mexico.
In a statement, David Cohen, the undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said, “Mahan Air’s close coordination with the [Quds Force] – secretly ferrying operatives, weapons and funds on its flights – reveals yet another facet of the [Revolutionary Guard’s] extensive infiltration of Iran’s commercial sector to facilitate its support for terrorism.”
Treasury maintains that Mahan Air helped facilitate arms shipments for the Quds Force and used its aircraft to transfer funds to procure controlled goods by Quds members. In addition the airline is accused of facilitating the “covert travel” of Quds officers in and out of Iraq, Iran, and Syria by excluding information on its flight manifests.
Mahan Air is also accused of providing transportation services to Hezbollah including moving personnel, weapons, and goods for the Lebanon-based organization.
“Following the revelation about the [Quds Force’s] use of the international financial system to fund its murder-for-hire plot, today’s action highlights further the undeniable risks of doing business with Iran,” Cohen said.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned five individuals connected with the alleged assassination attempt and the European Union added twenty-nine Iranians to its sanctions list for human rights abuses.
Further sanctions against Iran are expected.
