US slaps sanctions on Syrian conglomerate for funding Quds Force and Houthis

The US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on companies, individuals and vessels associated with a Syrian conglomerate that Washington says is funding Iran’s Quds Force and Yemen’s Houthis.

The Syrian conglomerate, the Al-Qatirji Company, is responsible for generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Quds Force and the Houthis through the sale of Iranian oil to Syria and China, the department says in a statement.

“Iran is increasingly relying on key business partners like the Al-Qatirji Company to fund its destabilizing activities and web of terrorist proxies across the region,” says department official Bradley Smith.

The Al-Qatirji Company had already been under sanctions for its role in facilitating the sale of fuel between the Syrian regime and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the department says. Some 26 companies, individuals and vessels associated with the company were targeted in today’s action, it adds.