DOJ charges 7 linked to oil-trafficking network with terrorism
- DOJ: Defendants linked to financing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
- The United States seized $108 million and 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel
- Justice Department says this comes after 'aggressive actions' by Iran
FILE – The Justice Department in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
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(NewsNation) — The Department of Justice on Friday announced terrorism and sanctions-evasion charges against defendants it says are connected to an oil-trafficking network that finances the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Along with terrorism and evasion, the seven now face fraud and money laundering charges as well.
In total, the United States seized $108 million and 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel that the DOJ says was going to be used “as part of these defendants’ scheme to fund the IRGC-QF.”
A Chinese woman and an Omani man were also charged in Washington, D.C., with sanctions-evasion and money laundering in connection with the trafficking and selling of Iranian oil to Chinese government-owned refineries.
“Iran utilizes the proceeds of its black-market oil sales to fund its criminal activities, including its support of the IRGC, Hamas, Hizballah and other Iranian-aligned terrorist groups,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department will continue to use every authority we have to cut off the illegal financing and enabling of Iran’s malicious activities, which have become even more evident in recent months.”
The DOJ says this all comes after a series of “aggressive actions” by Iran over the past several years. In August 2022, for example, the United States charged an IGRC member with plotting to kill former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton.
Reuters contributed to this story.