US Sanctions Syrian Company Said to Generate Revenue for Iran

The US State Department announced Nov. 14 that the US would impose sanctions on 26 companies, individuals, and vessels associated with Al-Qatirji Co., a business alleged to be facilitating the sale of Iranian oil to Syria, where the company is based.

Al-Qatirji Co. had previously been designated for US sanctions for its alleged role in facilitating the sale of fuel between Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, by the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control, which enforces US sanctions. OFAC and the State Department are accusing the company of having since "morphed" into one of the main conduits through which Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, or IRGC-QF, generates revenue to disperse to proxy groups, particularly Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"Iran is increasingly relying on key business partners, like the Al-Qatirji Co., to fund its destabilizing activities and web of terrorist proxies across the region," Acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement. "Treasury will continue to take all available measures to restrict the Iranian regime's ability to profit from the illicit schemes that enable its dangerous regional agenda."

Al-Qatirji-controlled vessels sanctioned as part of the effort include the Baron, Romina, Chloe, Joel, Lotus, Rex 1, Ramona 1, Lelia, Eline, Celine, Mia, Lia, and Star 5. The US also levied sanctions against company leaders Hussam Bin Ahmed Rushdi Al-Qatirji, Muhammad Agha, Ahmed Rashdi Qatirji, and Abbas Katerji.

Iranian production, revenues rise

The announcement was the latest in a flurry of sanctions on companies and groups alleged to have facilitated Iran's global oil trade. While the administration of US President Joe Biden has frequently touted its efforts to cut off Iran's financing, the country's production and revenues from crude oil has continued to increase.

Iran took in US$53 billion from petroleum exports in 2023, up from US$16 billion in 2020, a US Energy Information Administration report said Oct. 9. Iran exported 1.4 million b/d of crude and condensate in 2023, up from 392,000 b/d in 2020, according to the report.

US Representative Mike Turner, Republican-Ohio, said a week before the Nov. 5 election of President-elect Donald Trump, that the incoming administration could combine support for Israel's fight against Iranian proxies in the region with a restoration of Trump's first-term policy of "maximum pressure" sanctions on the regime in attempts reduce Iran's revenues to 2020 levels.

With this combination, "you could really have a significant impact on Iran and Iran's march to becoming a nuclear weapons state," Turner, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said during an event that the Atlantic Council hosted Oct. 30. – S&P Global