US imposes sanctions against Iranian Ambassador to Iraq
Oct 23, 2020
Washington [US], October 23 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States has imposed sanctions on the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iraj Masjedi, a general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-[Quds] Force (IRGC-QF) and Iran's Ambassador to Iraq, for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF," the statement said on Thursday.
Masjedi's designation is pursuant to the US counterterrorism sanctions regime against the IRGC, which the United States asserts is a terrorist entity.
The Treasury Department alleges that Masjedi, supposedly a confidante of the US-assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, oversaw the training and financing of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Additionally, the US claims that Masjedi used his role as ambassador to fund the IRGC's Quds Force.
The imposed sanctions allow authorities to seize all of Masjedi's assets in the United States, should he have any, and prohibit US and foreign entities with engaging in financial transactions with the ambassador.
In addition to the ambassador, the Treasury Department sanctioned five Iranian entities, alleged to have meddled in the US presidential election. (ANI/Sputnik)
