Alsharq Tribune- Mohamed Otaify
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Thursday on companies, individuals and vessels associated with a Syrian conglomerate that Washington said was 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 said 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," said department official Bradley Smith said. The Al-Qatirji Company had already been under sanctions for its role in facilitating the sale of fuel between the Syrian regime and ISIS of Iraq and Syria, the department said. Some 26 companies, individuals and vessels associated with the company were targeted in Thursday's action, it added.
