US, GCC add 3 persons linked to Iran’s IRGC to terror financing list

The US and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-led Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC) yesterday designated 13 people and three entities on its terrorist financing list.

The TFTC includes the US and GCC member-states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and was established to counter regional money laundering and terrorist financing networks.

The individuals include three people affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), four individuals and one company linked with the terrorist organisation, Daesh, and six financiers affiliated with Nigerian terrorist group, Boko Haram. All of the targets have previously been designated by the US.

Saudi Arabia designates (16) names affiliated to terrorist organizations. pic.twitter.com/eQbr4JIXAI

— The Presidency of State Security (@pss_en) June 6, 2022

According to the Saudi Gazette, Saraya Al-Ashtar and Saraya Al-Mukhtar are listed as being among the three entities classified as terrorist organisations, both of which are Iranian-backed Shia groups based in Bahrain.

In a press release on the US Department of Treasury website, Under-Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, was quoted as saying “Over the past five years, TFTC member states have addressed a broad range of terrorist financing activity in the Arabian Peninsula, with the goal of strengthening regional defences and capabilities to counter terrorist financing.”

“The TFTC’s actions today signal the determination and commitment of TFTC member states to continue to work towards these goals, as well as unity in the commitment to root out the full scope of terrorist financing activity.”

“The TFTC is a clear demonstration of the Biden-Harris Administration’s multilateral approach to strengthening the reach of our sanctions through coordination with key partners,” he added.

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