The U.S. Treasury Department has applied new sanctions targeting an Iraqi airline and multiple Middle Eastern groups with suspected ties to Iran’s Islamic regime.
The Treasury Department alleges Fly Baghdad has flown fighters, weapons, and money to Syria and Lebanon to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s ongoing civil war. The Treasury Department alleges Fly Baghdad provides a linkage for Iranian-made Fateh, Zulfiqar, and al-Fajr series missiles, as well as AK-47s, RPG-7s, and other grenades and machine guns going to pro-Assad forces in the region.
In addition to designating Fly Baghdad and Mr. Shabbani, OFAC also announced new sanctions against three leaders of the Kata‘ib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia. Kata’ib Hezbollah is part of the Iraqi state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)—an organization overseeing paramilitary forces organized to fight the ISIS terrorist group.
While U.S. forces and PMF militias both operate with the Iraqi government’s blessing to combat ISIS, the U.S. and PMF factions have directly clashed in recent years. The U.S. government has previously added the Kata'ib Hezbollah and other PMF factions to its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.
The Kata‘ib Hezbollah leaders targeted with new U.S. sanctions on Jan. 22 include Hossein Moanes al-Ibudi, a senior member of Kata’ib Hezbollah currently leading the group’s Iraqi political party.
Also among the list of newly sanctioned Kata'ib Hezbollah members is Riyad Ali Hussein al-Azzawi. The Treasury Department believes Mr. Azzawi is an unmanned aerial vehicle specialist and is involved in training Iraqi fighters on a wide range of procured or manufactured weapons. The Treasury Department said Mr. Azzawi’s fingerprints were found on an Iranian missile that was launched in the vicinity of U.S. forces in Iraq in 2021.
Awqad Muhsin Faraj al-Hamidawi was the third Kata'ib Hezbollah leader sanctioned by the United States on Jan. 22. The Treasury Department believes Mr. Hamidawi has directed the Iraqi militia group’s business entities and other aspects of the group’s financial portfolio, including the Al-Massal Land Travel and Tourism Company, which the U.S. government suspects is used to generate revenue and launder money for the group. The travel company was also designated for sanctions by the United States on Jan. 22.
US, UK, Australia Target Suspected Hamas Financial Networks
Separate from the sanctions targeting Fly Baghdad and the various Kata'ib Hezbollah leaders, the Treasury Department’s OFAC also announced sanctions targeting two financial networks with suspected ties to Hamas, which is also on the FTO list. This new effort to sanction the suspected Hamas financial networks was announced in coordination with the governments of the UK and Australia.The multinational sanctions specifically target Gaza-based financial facilitator Zuhair Shamlakh (“Shamlakh Network”) and the Gaza-based Herzallah Exchange and General Trading Company LLC (“Herzallah Network”).
The “Shamlakh Network” has laundered money from Iran to Hamas’s military wing, known as the al-Qassem Brigades, and to another group on the FTO list called Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Members of the “Shamlakh Network” allegedly routed funds from Iran, through Chinese bank accounts in yuan payments, to Hamas-controlled bank accounts.
The “Herzallah Network” has also allegedly facilitated money transfers to Hamas and PIJ. This financial network includes the Herzallah Exchange and General Trading Company, as well as Muhammad Fallah Kamil Hirzallah (Muhammad Fallah), Na’im Kamil Raghib Hirzallah, and Salah Kamil Raghib Hirzallah (Salah). The network also includes Samir Herzallah and his Brothers For Money Exchange and Remittances company, as well as Thair Abd Al Raziq Shukri Hirzallah.
The effort to disrupt Hamas and PIJ’s financial backers comes after both organizations breached the Israel–Gaza barrier in a coordinated attack on Oct. 7, 2023. According to the latest Israeli estimates, about 1,139 people were killed in the attack. Palestinian gunmen took more than 200 others back to the Gaza Strip as hostages. The attack has set off an ongoing battle in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli forces seeking to hunt down and eliminate Hamas targets and find hostages.
