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Iraq

US Treasury sanctions Iraqi airline, militia leaders for assisting IRGC; Fly Baghdad rejects accusation

2024-01-23

[Rudaw] The United States Department of Treasury on Monday announced its sanctioning of Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and several members of Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah

...spelt in some sources Kataeb Hezbollah...

for providing assistance to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it has designated Fly Baghdad and its CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, "for providing assistance" to the IRGC’s Quds Force and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
According to the US Treasury, Fly Baghdad "has supported the operations of the IRGC-QF [Quds Force] and its proxies by delivering materials and personnel throughout the region."

"Fly Baghdad flights have delivered shipments of weapons to Damascus International Airport in Syria for transfer to members of the IRGC-QF and Iran-aligned militia groups on the ground in Syria, including the Syrian Arab Elite Republican Guard, Lebanese Hizballah, KH [Kataib Hezbollah], and the KH-affiliated Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade," read the statement.

The US Department of Treasury added that Fly Baghdad was also involved in transferring hundreds of Iraqi fighters, including fighters of the Iran-backed militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, in support of the Iranian proxies’ attacks on Israel, in October.

Along with Fly Baghdad, the OFAC also designated three leaders and supporters of the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah, "as well as a business that moves and launders" for the group.

The statement named Hossein Moanes al-Ibudi, a senior member of the Kataib Hezbollah and a member of the Iraqi parliament, Riyad Ali Hussein al-Azzawi, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist and an engineer for the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and Awqad Muhsin Faraj al-Hamidawi, who directs Kataib Hezbollah’s "businesses and aspects of the financial portfolio," as part of the list of individuals sanctioned by the US "for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support" of the group.

A travel company, al-Massal, was also sanctioned on the grounds that it was used by Kataib Hezbollah to generate revenue and launder money.

"Al-Massal is being designated ... for being owned, controlled, or directed by Awqad al-Hamidawi," according to the statement.

"Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and its proxies have sought to abuse regional economies and use seemingly legitimate businesses as cover for funding and facilitating their attacks," said US Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, adding that the US will "continue to disrupt Iran’s illicit activities aimed at undermining the stability of the region."

As a result of this move, all assets and property belonging to the specified legal persons, "that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons," are blocked and must be disclosed to the Treasury’s OFAC. Furthermore, any organizations that are owned, whether directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, by 50 percent or more by one or more individuals subject to asset blocking are also subject to the same restrictions.

Two Fly Baghdad-owned, Iraqi-registered aircraft were identified as "blocked property in which Fly Baghdad has an interest."

The US treasury designated the IRGC’s Quds Force as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT)" in 2007, and the US Department of State designated Kataib Hezbollah as an STDG and a "foreign terrorist organization (FTO)" in 2009.

The sanctions come at a time when US interests across Iraq and Syria are the target of dronezaps from IRGC-backed militia groups. On Monday, the Islamic Resistance® in Iraq, an Iran-backed group, announced targeting Ain al-Asad military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province with drones.

According to the Pentagon, US bases forces have been attacked approximately 140 times in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

The US has carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq, drawing the ire of the Iraqi government, and amplifying cries of ending the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) mission in Iraq.

In November, the US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, another Iran-backed group, as well as its leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji.

Washington accused both militias of receiving support from Iran’s IRGC and involvement in dozens of attacks on American interests in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war with Paleostinian Hamas
Hamas

...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
in the Gaza Strip.

Fly Baghdad Cancels Flights After U.S. Sanctions; Denies Accusations

“Nuh uh. Wudn’t us,” the big guy said emphatically.

[Shafaq News] Hours after the United States imposed sanctions on Iraqi airline "Fly Baghdad," the company was compelled to cancel several flights from Baghdad International Airport. Videos on social media showed stranded passengers at the airport after Fly Baghdad's flight cancellations.

The U.S. Treasury accused Fly Baghdad of transporting weapons to Syria and supporting organizations banned by the U.S. government.

In response, the company, along with its management and owner, expressed surprise at the decision, asserting that it lacked any substantial or moral evidence.
"Moral Evidence"?
Fly Baghdad denounced the decision, emphasizing its years of operation under the direct supervision of the Iraqi government, including the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport.

The company called on the U.S. Treasury Department to "present evidence supporting the accusations," it intends to pursue legal action to demand compensation for what it considers a decision based on misleading and unreal information that does not withstand legal scrutiny.

Posted by:trailing wife

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