Kuwait Times

US sanctions key Iran paramilita­ry

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WASHINGTON: The US Treasury Department has slapped sanctions on an Iranian paramilita­ry group along with a network of businesses that were providing it financing, as part of Washington’s campaign of maximum economic pressure against Tehran. In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury said a network of more than 20 businesses known as the Bonyad Taavon Basij was financing the Basij Resistance Force, a component of Iran’s Islamic Revolution­ary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It also accused the hardline militia of sending child soldiers to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “The internatio­nal community must understand that business entangleme­nts with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real world humanitari­an consequenc­es,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “This helps fuel the Iranian regime’s violent ambitions across the Middle East.”

The Basij, a paramilita­ry force formed soon after the 1979 revolution, is one of the Iranian regime’s primary enforcers of internal security with branches in every province and city of Iran, according to the US Treasury. “In addition to its involvemen­t in violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses in Iran, the Basij recruits and trains fighters... including Iranian children, who then deploy to Syria to support the brutal Assad regime,” it said. It added that in addition to Iranians, the militia recruited Afghan immigrants to Iran through coercion, some of whom had fled to Europe as a result, as well as Pakistani nationals.

“Children recruited by Basij have tragically fought and died on the battlegrou­nd in Syria,” a senior administra­tion official told AFP. The Bonyad Taavon Basij is said to provide the Basij militia social welfare services, including housing and financial support, and manages economic activities by funding small companies. “Bonyad Taavon Basij has expanded its reach into Iran’s economy by establishi­ng several investment firms through its financial and investment offshoot Mehr Eqtesad Bank,” the Treasury statement said.

Among the other companies singled out was Iran Tractor Manufactur­ing Company (ITMC), the largest tractor manufactur­er in the Middle East and North Africa that predates the Iranian revolution. It generates millions of dollars in profit for the investment firms that represent the Basij. Also targeted was Iran’s Zinc Mines Developmen­t Company, described as the country’s “preeminent, multibilli­on-dollar zinc and lead mining and processing holding company.” “What we’ve designated here today is a multibilli­on-dollar network that has had significan­t (links) in Europe and the Middle East,” said a second senior administra­tion official.

 ??  ?? TEHRAN: Turkmen Basij militamen march during an annual military parade which marks Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq, in this file photo.
TEHRAN: Turkmen Basij militamen march during an annual military parade which marks Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq, in this file photo.

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