Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday that the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned six foreign entities and individuals because of their active role in aiding and abetting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in facilitating the ongoing Iran conflict.
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating six entities and individuals in China, India, Russia, and Iran, including multiple companies serving as general sales agents for the U.S.- and European Union‑sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air. Although Mahan Air presents itself as a civilian carrier, it has long played a central role in enabling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), providing travel services for IRGC‑Qods Force personnel, facilitating military training, and supporting Iran’s procurement and transport of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and weapons.
“Those who provide financial services, logistics, or commercial support to the IRGC or Mahan Air are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury will continue to identify them, expose them, and cut them off from the U.S. financial system.”
This means OFAC will seize all property, assets, and interests in property within the U.S. or under U.S. jurisdiction, as well as the assets and ownership stake of the named individuals... for starters.
The IRGC and Iranian Qods Forces are frequent fliers with Mahan Air for military training, and their general sales agents, who are basically arms brokers, facilitate Iran's ability to procure and utilize weaponry and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. It's quite the laundry list of nefarious actors posing as legitimate international businesses.
These interconnected entities with Mahan Air include China-based Shanghai Wings International Logistics Co., which acts as a general sales agent for Mahan Air, and has coordinated the transport of electronics from China to Iran. Tang Xin is also based in China. Xin is executive director and 50-percent owner of another transport company, Shanghai Elite International Travel Group (Shanghai Elite). Xin also acts as managing director for Shanghai Wings. Both entities have coordinated travel for Mahan Air.
In India and Russia, two entities serve as general sales agents for Mahan Air: India-based airline Skiez Travels and Logistics Private Limited (Skiez Travels) and Russia-based Air Cargo Pro Limited (Air Cargo Pro).
Shanghai Wings, Tang Xin, Skiez Travels, and Air Cargo Pro are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air. Shanghai Elite is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Tang Xin.
Then there are the shell corporations. OFAC has also designated for sanctions DadeNegar Startup Studio, a technology company based in Tehran, for granting IRGC access to use their website to target U.S., Israeli, and Middle East assets, and submit strike requests for U.S. targets in the Middle East.
By sanctioning entities that help sustain Mahan Air’s global operations, today’s action further disrupts the network underpinning Iran’s destabilizing activities across the region. This action advances Treasury’s efforts to intensify economic pressure on the Iranian regime and the IRGC, particularly in response to its reckless attacks against regional states and commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. OFAC is also sanctioning an IRGC‑affiliated front company that has supported Iran’s kinetic targeting during the ongoing conflict.
This is the way. If America does not want a forever war or boots on the ground, cutting off the financing and resources which supply the IRGC is essential to cutting off the monster's head.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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