New US sanctions target Hamas, Daesh, other groups

The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on a “wide range of terrorists and their supporters,” including the Palestinian group Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, reports Reuters.

The targets include 15 leaders, individuals, and entities affiliated with groups such as Hamas, al Qaeda, Daesh, and Iran’s IRGC, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

The sanctions were applied using new tools from an executive order recently updated by President Donald Trump.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement:

Since the horrific attacks of 9/11, the US government has refocused its counterterrorism efforts to constantly adapt to emerging threats. President Trump’s modernized counterterrorism Executive Order enhances the authorities we use to target the finances of terror groups and their leaders to ensure they are as robust as possible.

Sanctioned leaders include Turkey-based Zaher Jabarin, the head of Hamas’s financial officer; and Muhammad Sa’id Izadi, the chief of the IRGC-Quds Force’s Palestinian office in Lebanon.

The targets also included a Brazil-based al Qaeda member, a Maldivian national who recruits for the Islamic State branch active in Afghanistan, and an operative of the Islamic State affiliate in the Philippines, the statement said.

Several exchange houses and a jewelry company in southern Turkey were also designated by the Treasury.

The sanctions mean any property the targets may have in the United States would be blocked and US persons would generally be prohibited from having business dealings with them.

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