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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday targeted the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan with sanctions against eight people, including two linked to the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The individuals, who also include two Pakistanis and four Afghans, have been designated global terrorists by the Treasury Department, an action that allows the US government to freeze property or interests in property under US jurisdiction.
US sanctions targeted Taliban members involved in suicide bombings and other deadly activities in Afghanistan, as well as Iranians providing material and financial support, the US Treasury said in a statement.
"The military formations provided by Iran, its financing and the supply of weapons to the Taliban are another example of Tehran's blatant regional interference and support for terrorism," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "The United States and our partners will not tolerate the Iranian regime exploiting Afghanistan to reinforce its destabilizing behavior."
Mnuchin was visiting the Middle East this week to discuss ways to fight the financing of terrorism and the impending sanctions imposed on Iran. Taliban-imposed sanctions have also been imposed by the seven members of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), a US-led initiative in the Gulf aimed at curbing funding for militant groups.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Tuesday added the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Guard, to their lists of people and organizations suspected of financing terrorism, the agency said. Saudi Press SPA.
The new Taliban-related designations follow a wave of violence in Afghanistan that preceded the parliamentary elections in the country last week.
On Thursday, Brigadier General of the US Army, Jeffrey Smiley, was confirmed as being one of two Americans injured in an attack that killed the police chief of Kandahar Province in the south. from Afghanistan.
The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, was a devastating blow to the Afghan government, decapitating the command of the security of one of the most important provinces of the country and demonstrating the ability of insurgents to strike even the highest. leaders.
Mohammad Ebrahim Owhadi and Esma'il Razavi, according to the Treasury Department, are Iranians linked to the Quds Force targeted by the Taliban sanctions. The others were Abdullah Samad Faroqui, Mohammad Daoud Muzzamil, Abdul Rahim Manan, Hafiz Majid, Sadr Ibrahim and Abdul Aziz. The Treasury Department imposed additional sanctions on Naim Barich, who was appointed in 2012 under international drug sanctions.
Report by Doina Chiacu; Edited by Tim Ahmann, Marguerita Choy and Richard Chang
