US targets network over oil sent to Syria

Russian supply ‘will continue under deal’ with Damascus

The United States has imposed sanctions on companies and individuals related to an Iran-Russia network that it claimed sent oil to Syria and “indirectly funded militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah”.

Placed on the blacklist of the US Treasury on Tuesday are firms and individuals in Syria, Russia and Iran, who are accused of creating a complex web of Russian cutout companies and Syrian intermediaries to ship oil to Damascus, which in return bankrolled the two organizations.

A US Treasury statement said the alleged arrangement involved a Syrian citizen using his Russia-based company to ship millions of barrels of Iranian oil to Syria, with the help of a stateowned company of Russia.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were then transferred to Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah, a movement in Lebanon.

“The Unites States in its continued efforts will not allow these dirty dealings to flourish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.

“Iran will not be allowed to exploit the international financial system to hide revenue streams it uses to fund terrorist activity,” he said.

However, Russia will continue supplying oil to Syria in line with its agreement with Damascus despite pressure from the US, said Oleg Morozov, a member of the Russian Federation Council.

‘Indirect influence‘

Morozov said the economic pressure by the US through oil supply shutdown has become a tool of the new economic war with Syria, and will have an indirect influence on Russia and Iran.

He said Russia acts and will act “absolutely legally”.

“We have an agreement with Syria and therefore it’s up to us to decide what we supply and to whom. This will be our answer, (it is) much more effective than countersanctions,” Morozov said.

Iran’s defense minister said on Tuesday that the US sanctions have failed to slow down progress.

Diao Daming, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said Iran has been under US sanctions for a substantial period of time, and the latest round will not have a substantive effect.

Even further sanctions are unlikely to make Iran yield, he added.

For the US government, he said, the sanctions are designed to keep putting pressure on Iran, in the hope that it will be forced back to the negotiation deal.

He said Russia, although its influence in the Middle East has not been as dominant as the US, still has some sway over countries in the region, which might make it more difficult for the US to act on its own.

The US in May abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move that has been criticized by the international community. The deal had removed many US and other economic sanctions over Iran, in return for Teheran’s commitment to curtail its nuclear program.

Since then, the US has intensified its sanctions against Iran and has threatened more actions.