Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

#BREAKING
1)
U.S. Treasury Dept. targets procurement networks providing support for #Iran's missile proliferation programs.
home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…

2)
Hamed Dehghan's network uses a Hong Kong-based front company to evade US & int'l sanctions & facilitates tens of millions of dollars’ worth of proliferation activities targeting US technology & electronic components, for persons related to the IRGC & #Iran’s missile program.

3)
The second network, led by Seyed Hossein Shariat, has procured various aluminum alloy products on behalf of components entities owned or controlled by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

4)
"As the Iranian regime attempts to use complex schemes to hide its efforts to bolster its WMD program, the U.S. government will continue to thwart them at every turn," said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker.

5)
"We urge governments worldwide to recognize the extraordinary lengths to which the regime in Tehran will go to conceal its behavior, and to ensure that their companies and financial institutions are not facilitating Iran's proliferation activities."

6)
Since 2017 alone, Hamed Dehghan and Hadi Dehghan have used a network of intermediary companies, including a Hong Kong-based front company, to facilitate more than ten million dollars’ worth of proliferation-related transactions.

7)
Hamed Dehghan, his company Ebtekar Sanat Ilya, and Hadi Dehghan have procured more than one million dollars’ worth of military-grade electronic components for Rastafann Engineering Company (Rastafann), and have had multiple other Iranian military clientele.

8)
Rastafann was designated on October 13, 2017, pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided support to the IRGC & Naval Defence Missile Industry Group. The IRGC & Naval Defence Missile Industry Group were themselves designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 in 2007 & 2010, respectively.

9)
Green Industries (Hong Kong) Limited is owned or controlled by Hamed Dehghan, using it as a front company to purchase & attempt to purchase export-controlled military end-use equipment from U.S. suppliers for Iranian entities involved in Iran's WMD proliferation activities.

10)
Since at least 2016, Asre Sanat Eshragh Company has procured large amounts of aluminum alloy products for multiple Iranian entities, including Iran Electronic Industries (IEI) and Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO).

11)
IEI has been listed by the European Union and the Japanese government as an entity of concern for proliferation relating to missiles and nuclear weapons, and has also been sanctioned by the governments of Australia, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland.

12)
IAIO has been sanctioned by the European Union as an entity linked to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran’s development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.

13)
The NSG is a multilateral export control regime that seeks to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment, and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

14)
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of these individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.

15)
OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons...

16)
... designated today may themselves be exposed to designation. Any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates/provides significant financial services for any individual designated today could be subject to US correspondent account or payable-through sanctions.