OFAC takes aim at ‘illicit shipping Syrian magnate’

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in Washington DC has sanctioned more than a dozen entities and vessels for their involvement in the shipment of Iranian crude oil and LPG to Syria and East Asia on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hizbollah. 

Among the vessels sanctioned today are four ships associated with the fleet of what OFAC described as “illicit shipping Syrian magnate” Abdul Jalil Mallah and his brother Luay al-Mallah. 

“Iran continues to rely heavily on the illicit sale of oil and liquid petroleum gas by the IRGC-QF and Lebanese Hizbollah to fund its terrorist proxies and destabilising activities,” said acting under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley Smith. “Treasury remains committed to disrupting the networks of shippers, brokers, and buyers that facilitate these schemes.”

OFAC has been especially busy targeting shipping over the past month, adding nine more ships to its extensive shipping sanctions list, accused of shipping weapons from Iran to Russia on September 10, as well as taking aim at Russia’s LNG fleet.