Latest news with #IRGCQF
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Treasury Dept. designates 22 entities linked with selling Iranian oil for IRGC-QF
Refineries purchase Iranian oil, and then transfer payments to these front companies, who in turn, move funds to other front company accounts also controlled by IRGC-QF, OFAC stated. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 22 entities based in Hong Kong, the UAE, and Turkey, for facilitating the sale of Iranian oil that funds the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), the department announced on Wednesday. IRGC-QF leverages front companies outside of Iran, using "offshore accounts to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in profits derived from Iranian oil sales to circumvent sanctions and funnel funds toward IRGC-QF terrorist activities," OFAC said. Refineries purchase Iranian oil, and then transfer payments to these front companies, who in turn, move funds to other front company accounts also controlled by IRGC-QF, OFAC stated. IRGC-QF uses these proceeds to fund weapons programs and support Iran's terror proxies across the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is Iran's most powerful terrorist force. "The Iranian regime relies heavily on its shadow banking system to fund its destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs, rather than for the benefit of the Iranian people,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "Treasury remains focused on disrupting this shadowy infrastructure that allows Iran to threaten the United States and our allies in the region," he added. OFAC had previously designated over 30 individuals and entities tied to Iranian brothers who collectively laundered billions of dollars" through front companies for the Iranian regime, OFAC noted. These sanctioned entities had ties to the "Shadow Banking Network," which is involved in money laundering on behalf of Iran. The network has laundered billions of dollars through Iranian exchange houses and foreign front companies, according to OFAC. The Zarringhalam brothers and their associates used front companies based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong to help certain Iranians generate revenue from the sale of petroleum and other commodities used to build nuclear weapons.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Inside the IDF's covert 10 km. mission to capture Iran's Quds Force in Syria
Lt.-Col. (res.) Y, commander of the IDF's 7012th Battalion, led troops 10 kilometers into Syrian territory in covert June mission which was carried out without a shot being fired. A Lt.-Col. in the IDF reserves expanded on how his battalion maneuvered approximately 10 kilometers into Syria as part of a covert mission to arrest operatives from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) in June, a Ynet interview revealed on Friday. The incident was reported by The Jerusalem Poston Monday, with the interview expanding upon the details of how the operation was conducted. Intelligence indicated that the cell was planning an imminent attack on IDF forces stationed in the buffer zone, Ynet reported. Lt.-Col. (res.) Y, is commander of the IDF's 7012th Battalion, part of the Alexandroni Reserve Brigade, and led the mission. The 7012th Battalion's objective was to complete the mission undetected, and return safely to Israeli territory. This is usually the domain of special forces, and other elite IDF units, but is increasingly being carried out by reservists, Ynet noted. The operation was conducted at approximately 2:50 a.m. on a Monday morning. Hundreds of soldiers operated across multiple compounds where the IRGC-QF cell members were reportedly asleep. "We are proud of the outcome," Lt.-Col. Y said, giving credit to months of intelligence work and detailed planning aimed at dismantling a component of Iran's strategy to destabilize Israel's northern border. Iran's strategy failed during the Israel-Iran war in June, during which the IDF expanded deployment in Syrian territory, playing a central role in blocking Tehran's objectives, Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet. "We had been monitoring the cell for a long time," Lt.-Col. Y said. "Iran has been building terror infrastructure across Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. There are still Iranian elements operating in the region, and it's our responsibility to stop them," he added. The operation near Tel Kudne followed extensive intelligence work by the IDF Intelligence Directorate's Unit 8200, and others. The IRGC-QF cell seems to be part of a larger network of trained operatives spread across Syrian villages, awaiting orders from Tehran, Ynet reported. 'This wasn't a single-target mission,' Lt-Col Y. told Ynet. 'It was a precise operation — to enter, arrest, interrogate, and return with the detainees to Israel. But since they were spread across different structures and terrain, we needed perfect timing and total secrecy.' In order to carry out the operation, several specialized units combined, including the 7012th Battalion's reconnaissance company, specialists from the IDF's Unit 504 human intelligence unit, the "Oketz" canine unit, elite search and rescue soldiers from Unit 669, and others, the Ynet report noted. Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet how the soldiers prepared for the operation. "We built a full-scale model of the mission area in the dark," with soldiers having trained under simulated condition, with full gear, rehearsing infiltration, coordination, and breaching in a stealthy manner. "We walked for kilometers into Syria, silently," Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet. "Everything was timed to the minute and synchronized across our companies." 'Our feet got wet, it was difficult, but everyone smiled from the satisfaction,' one the soldiers added, describing the experience of crossing the Ruqqad river. "Even the local dogs barely barked," another remarked, explaining how silent the ambient noise was during the operation. "Everything was quiet until we heard 'Go!' and then the operation began," a soldier told Ynet. Breach teams acted first while support units surrounded the compound. After Unit 504 had confirmed the presence of the IRGC-QF cell members, arrests began. The detainees were quickly interrogated, with troops searching for weapons and intelligence materials, and then withdrawing before civilians in the village could respond, the report notes, adding that the suspects were taken completely by surprise, without a single shot fired. 'Even after we reached Israel, they couldn't believe it,' a soldier said. 'They were pulled from bed, blindfolded, and suddenly found themselves in Israeli custody.' An officer conducting the interrogations of the detainees confirmed that they are undergoing questioning in Israel, in a process described as a "psychological chess match," in order to gather intelligence on further threats posed by IRGC-QF.
