"As the IRGC consolidates control over broad swaths of the Iranian
economy, displacing ordinary Iranian businessmen in favor of a select group
of insiders, it is hiding behind companies like Khatam Al Anbiya and its
affiliates to maintain vital ties to the outside world," Treasury
Undersecretary Stuart Levey said on Feb. 10.
Khatam was identified as the engineering arm of IRGC. The company has
been awarded contracts for the construction of infrastructure, including
streets, tunnels and pipelines.
"Today's action exposing Khatam Al Anbiya subsidiaries will help firms
worldwide avoid business that ultimately benefits the IRGC and its dangerous
activities," Levey said.
The Treasury move marked the first U.S. sanctions on Iran in 2010. In
January, a deadline set by President Barack Obama for Teheran's response to
a Western plan to end Iran's uranium enrichment expired.
Under the sanctions, U.S. assets of Qasem and the IRGC subsidiaries
would be frozen. Officials acknowledged that the prospects that any of these
targets held major assets in the United States were slim.
In 2007, Washington imposed the first set of U.S. sanctions on IRGC. At
the time, Treasury designated nine IRGC-affiliated entities, including
Khatam and leading military commanders.
"The IRGC has a growing presence in Iran's financial and commercial
sectors and extensive economic interests in the defense production,
construction, and oil industries, controlling billions of dollars of
business," Treasury said. "The profits from these activities are available
to support the full range of the IRGC's illicit activities, including WMD
proliferation and support for terrorism."
