Nigeria Puts Iran On Money Laundering High-Risk List

The Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint against, “over 9,000 rifles, 284 machine guns, approximately 194 rocket launchers, over 70 anti-tank guided missiles, and over 700,000 rounds of ammunition that the US Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen,” a statement said.

The arms were seized on four occasions, twice in 2021 and twice in 2023, from stateless small vessels in regional waters, apparently part of regular Iranian arms supplies to Houthi fighters in Yemen. Iran is also suspected of supplying drone and missile technology and production means to Houthis who overthrew Yemen’s government in early 2015.

“These interdictions led to the discovery and seizure of four large caches of conventional weapons, including long arms and anti-tank missiles, and related munitions – all of which were determined to be primarily of either Iranian, Chinese, or Russian origin,” the Justice Department said.

It also underscored that the seizure showed continued efforts aimed at stopping illicit weapons trafficking by the IRGC.

In March, the US government took forfeiture action against over one million rounds of ammunition “en route from Iran to Yemen.”

US government agencies with “assistance from US Naval Forces Central Command, will continue to identify, disrupt, and dismantle Iran’s illicit flow of weapons at every level to prevent Iran’s illicit activity in the region and globally,” HSI Washington, DC Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abollahian made the claim in an interview with Chinese TV channel Phoenix following Thursday's UN Security council’s session to discuss Iran’s nuclear advancements and its arms supply to Russia as well as Tehran joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). 

“In the past several weeks, Iran has started talks with three countries of Germany, France and England,” he said, noting that “talks started in Norway and recently continued in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.” 

Amir-Abollahian expressed hope that these talks are aimed at overcoming “misunderstandings,” paving the ground for the Islamic Republic and the E3 countries (France, UK and Germany) for “better interaction and cooperation.”

What the top Iranian diplomat described as “misunderstandings” are the implementation of the UN resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal. As part of the defunct agreement, UN sanctions imposed on the regime over its ballistic missile program are set expire in October, but the three European parties of the accord argue that Iran has violated the pact, therefore the sanctions should remain in place. 

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They base their argument on evidence that proves Iran is supplying weapons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine – on which Iran should have coordinated with the UN Security Council – and on IAEA reports that prove Iran is stockpiling highly-enriched uranium beyond the levels allowed in resolution 2231. 

Amir-Abdollahian did not mention the drone supplies to Russia but Iran has maintained an ambivalent approach about its military dealings with Moscow. While it keeps repeating claims that Iran supports peace in Ukraine, it argues that the drones were sold to Russia before the invasion began, despite colossal amounts of evidence, including multiple Iranian Shahed drones shot down over Ukraine. In the latest development, satellite imagery indicates that the regime has also set up a drone manufacturing line in Tatarstan Republic to jointly produce the drones with Russia.

Western navies have also seized multiple shipments of Iranian arms in the Persian Gulf waters apparently destined for Houthis in Yemen, including in one instance missile and drone parts, in violation of existing UN sanctions.

At the same time, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said that during the Security Council’s session on Thursday, Iran and the Russian Federation claim there was no evidence linking the intercepted vessel and its cargo to Iran, and no clear indication that the seized components were of Iranian origin. 

Amir-Abollahian's remarks also followed a phone call with the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell who warned the Iranian foreign minister against arms supplies to Russia. The European Union, multiple European countries and the United States have been warning Iran against supplying weapons to Russia since its Shahed Kamikaze drones were deployed by Moscow last year against civilian and military targets in Ukraine. So far, Russia has launched hundreds of these loitering munitions, mostly against infrastructure and centers of population.

Iran's FM also said in the interview that the Ebrahim Raisi administration is following two courses of action simultaneously to deal with the sanctions. “The first path is to try to neutralize the sanctions and the other path is to try to cancel the sanctions using the tools of diplomacy and negotiation. We move in both directions,” he said.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced on Thursday that sanctions will expand following continued human rights violations and hostile actions against its opponents on UK soil.

The amped up sanctions from the UK, one of a long list of countries sanctioning the regime, were branded "continued destructive and interventionist actions" according to state news agency IRNA, Iran's foreign ministry slamming the move as "an illegal and interventionist action".

The new sanctions by London will expand existing penalties imposed by creating new criteria under which individuals and entities can be targeted.

According to AFP, they include any Iranian activities "undermining peace, stability and security in the Middle East and internationally", and the "use and spread of weapons technologies from Iran".

Moscow has been accused of using Iranian-made kamikaze drones in Ukraine, while Tehran is a close strategic ally of Syria, and supports Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The latest measures add to ones already taken by the UK over the Islamic Republic’s response to nationwide protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September.

The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian had been detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict hijab rules for women.

Since the start of 2023, London has imposed dozens of asset freezes and travel bans on Iranian individuals and organizations including IRGC commanders and Tehran's prosecutor general for their role in human rights abuses.

According to Iran International sources, regime security organizations including the Supreme National Security Council, have identified sensitive and strategic gas stations vulnerable to riots and conducted security drills in the middle of the night.

In November 2019, a government decision to increase fuel prices by 50–200 percent triggered a cycle of protests and unrest across the country that lasted for over two weeks. During this time, angry protesters and suspected government provocateurs torched hundreds of gas stations, banks, and government buildings.

One of the main reasons that the Islamic Republic has not managed to increase prices in the midst of the current economic crisis is its being engrossed in the worst wave of unrest in years following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September. Fuel price rises risk fanning the flames of unrest further.

The regime, which has one of the world's largest oil and gas reserves, sells gasoline at extremely low, subsidized prices, charging less than 10 US cents per gallon, or less than 3 cents per liter, while neighboring oil-producers have much higher prices, in line with international market rates. Second only to Venezuela, Iran has the world’s cheapest gasoline price. 

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For years there has been talk of adjusting prices, but since 2018 Iran’s currency has dropped 12-fold and any increase needs to be huge to be meaningful in US dollars. 

As part of the new plan, which has been piloted in a number of small cities, citizens are still allowed to buy 60 liters (15.8 US gallons) of gasoline per month at the cheap price of 15,000 rials per liter, or less than 3 US cents. The new regulation reportedly caps the more premium gasoline at 150 liters (40 gallons) per individual per month. ‌

There are conflicting reports about the timing or the exact details of the new plans with unconfirmed reports that the new regulations will take effect gradually and some others claiming that there will not be any cap on the more expensive gasoline. 

Hossein Aghayan, a former director of the supply department of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, said a major worry for the regime now is controlling the supply chain to prevent lines forming at gas stations across the country.

In addition to extremely low prices that do not encourage saving fuel, Iran also faces gasoline and diesel shortages due to a lack of refining capacity. The low prices also lead to millions of liters of fuel being smuggled out of Iran daily, part of a large-scale global smuggling network.

Iran’s heavy subsidies for fuel and electricity cost the country at least $50 billion a year, while the government struggles to secure foreign currencies amid US economic sanctions.

In March, Iran International revealed a classified document outlining the proceedings of a meeting at the presidential office in late February which revealed that strategic fuel reserves being at a dangerously low level, forcing major repairs at refineries to be delayed allowing maximum production for the time being. Officials were told to avoid any public remarks or suggestions that could be interpreted as an intention to raise current fuel prices for fear of inflaming public discontent. 

While the country is hugely dependent on the revenues from crude oil exports, due to sanctions and mismanagement, it has failed to modernize the energy sector in general, with power shortages most of the year. Systemic corruption also further cripples the weak system. The situation has been grave in recent years but since the administration of Ebrahim Raisi assumed office in 2021, the entire energy management system is going haywire even faster, drawing backlash from not only the public but even regime officials.

The list of 13 individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses in Iran, released by the UK Foreign Office on Thursday, includes prison governors overseeing torture and inhumane treatment and organizations charged with collecting private information of regime opponents.

It also covers individuals leading the repression of women through Iran’s compulsory hijab laws, according to a statement by the UK government.

The sanctioned individuals include Abdolhossein Khosropanah, the secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution; Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, the secretary of Supreme Council of Cyberspace; and Moslem Moein, the chief of the IRGC's Basij Cyberspace Organization.

The IRGC's Cyber Defense Command (CDC) which monitors the emails, websites and online activities of regime opponents, and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) which sets Iran’s policies on cultural and educational matters, including wear of the hijab were also sanctioned by the UK government on Thursday.

"Today the UK has sent a clear message to the regime – we will not tolerate this malign behavior and we will hold you to account," said UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in a statement.

"Our new sanctions regime will help to ensure there can be no hiding place for those who seek to do us harm," he added.

Cleverly also said that "the Iranian regime is oppressing its own people, exporting bloodshed in Ukraine and the Middle East, and threatening to kill and kidnap on UK soil."

The Islamic Republic has, in the past few years, been found to have attempted to carry out terror acts on UK soil, including plots to kidnap Iran International journalists, which forced the TV channel to relocate its activities from the London office to Washington DC due to the UK’s inability to protect its citizens on its soil.