America declared four Iran-aligned militia groups as terrorist organizations
The U.S. State Department, as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to limit the regional influence of the Islamic Republic, placed four Tehran-aligned militia groups on the list of foreign terrorist organizations and sanctioned them.
According to a statement from the department released on Wednesday, September 16, the groups Harakat al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kata’ib Imam Ali were targeted due to their direct role in planning and executing attacks in Iraq, including attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and bases of American and international coalition forces.
The State Department noted that these groups were previously also on the list of specially designated global terrorists.
This decision was announced a few hours after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned more than a dozen individuals and entities, including Iranian financial intermediaries, on charges of facilitating the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenue from the Islamic Republic to the Quds Force of the IRGC and the Ministry of Defense.
The U.S. Treasury described these networks as shadow banks that operate through shell companies and digital currencies to circumvent sanctions and finance weapons programs, including missiles and drones.
John C. Hurley, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, emphasized the continuation of the maximum pressure approach, stating that entities affiliated with the Islamic Republic rely on hidden banking networks to move millions of dollars through the international financial system, and the Trump administration is determined to disrupt these financial flows.
According to the Treasury Department, these actions are part of National Security Memorandum No. 2 of the U.S. President and aim to cut off funding to the Islamic Republic’s government and its proxy groups, and the United States will use all available tools to combat the financing of terrorism.
