US Issues Sanctions After Iranian Oil Shipment

The U.S. Department of Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned more than a dozen entities and vessels over their involvement in the shipment of Iranian crude oil and liquid petroleum gas to Syria and East Asia on behalf of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah.

Four ships associated with the fleet of Syrian shipping magnate Abdul Jalil Mallah, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021, and his brother, Luay al-Mallah, were among the vessels included in Wednesday's action, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Luay al-Mallah was designated under U.S. sanctions on Wednesday.

The brothers have "continued to use their shipping empire to support Iran’s malign activities and those of its proxies," Treasury said.

“Iran continues to rely heavily on the illicit sale of oil and liquid petroleum gas by the (Revolutionary Guards) and Lebanese Hezbollah to fund its terrorist proxies and destabilizing activities,” Bradley T. Smith, the acting under secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement.

(Reuters - Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Caitlin Webber)