In turn, the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad will allow the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, which passed the money on to the radical Islamic Hamas and Hezbollah, the US Treasury said in Washington. The US government issued sanctions on Tuesday for a total of nine people and companies in Syria, Russia and Iran. Among them is a state Russian company called Promsyrioimport.
Another Russian company, owned by a Syrian, uses ships to deliver the oil, many of which are insured by European companies. At least since 2014, ships delivering Iranian oil to Syria shut down their automatic identification system to obfuscate their target. The ministry warned shipping companies and insurers to be aware of the consequences of violating US sanctions.
„Today we are taking action against a complex system that Iran and Russia have used to strengthen the Assad regime and to raise funds for vicious Iranian activities,“ Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin said. On 5 November, US sanctions against Iran came into force, targeting in particular the oil and banking sector and the important shipping industry.
The US wants Iran to stop exporting oil, thus losing one of its most important sources of income. This will force the government in Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear deal
