US sanctions financial network tied to Iranian oil sales

WASHINGTON — The US said on Wednesday it has imposed a new set of sanctions on a group of 20 people and companies allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network benefiting the Iranian military.

The Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on companies and people from Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates.

Included in the sanctions package are employees, brokers and buyers of the Iranian company Sepehr Energy, which is also subject to sanctions.

The US alleges that Sepehr acts as a front company for the Iranian government’s oil sales, which “finances its destabilizing regional activities and support for multiple regional proxy groups,” including Hamas and Hezbollah, according to a Treasury Department statement.

A representative for Sepehr Energy did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.

Iran is engaged in “illegal financing schemes to generate money to fuel conflict and spread terror throughout the region,” said Brian E. Nelson, assistant secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

“The United States remains committed to exposing elements of the Iranian military and its complicit partners abroad to disrupt this critical source of financing,” he said.

The White House has said it has not yet disclosed information that Iran, Hamas’s main financial and military sponsor, was directly involved in the multiple operation against Israel on October 7.

However, the US has carried out strikes on Iran-linked weapons depots in Syria in recent weeks in retaliation for dozens of missile and drone attacks that militant groups have launched against US bases in Iraq and Syria since October 7.