US targets Iran Guards adviser and Iraq Shiite group

Washington, 2 July (WashingtonTV)—The United States Treasury Department on Thursday imposed financial sanctions against an adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC] and an Iraqi-based Shiite militant group, Kata’ib Hezbollah.

The Treasury Department said that it froze the assets of Iran-based Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to the IRGC’s elite Qods Force, and Kata’ib Hezbollah, for being a security threat to Iraq.

Al-Muhandis, an Iraqi national who was identified with 19 aliases, allegedly provided logistical support for attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces.

He is said to be an adviser to Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Qods Force. That group “provides lethal support to Kata’ib Hezbollah and other Iraqi Shia militia groups who target and kill Coalition and Iraqi security forces,” a Treasury Department statement said.

The Qods Force also provides “material support” to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, it added.

The Qods Force was named a “specially designated global terrorist” group by the Treasury Department in October 2007.

The State Department also today designated Kata’ib Hezbollah as a “foreign terrorist organization” for allegedly “committing or posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism.”

It alleged that Kata’ib Hezbollah was funded by the Qods Force and received weapons training and support from Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In one instance, the statement said, Hezbollah provided training to Kata’ib Hezbollah members in Iran.

Source: US Treasury Department website

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