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8/13/2021

Treasury Targets Oil Broker Network Supporting Qods Force | U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Treasury Targets Oil Broker Network Supporting Qods Force
August 13, 2021

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s O ice of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) is designating individuals and businesses involved in an international oil
smuggling network that supports Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
(IRGC-QF). Senior IRGC-QF o icials use proceeds from their involvement in Iranian oil
exports to help fund the group’s destabilizing regional activities. OFAC’s action targets a
foreign broker, Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, who has partnered with senior IRGC-QF
o icials and used several companies to facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to foreign
customers, including buyers in East Asia.
“The IRGC-QF is using revenues from its Iranian petroleum sales to fund its malign activities
at the expense of the Iranian people,” said Director of the O ice of Foreign Assets Control
Andrea M. Gacki. “These sales rely on key foreign intermediaries to obscure the IRGC-QF’s
involvement, and Treasury will continue to disrupt and expose anyone supporting these
e orts.”
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order
(E.O.) 13224, as amended. The IRGC-QF was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 in 2007 for
support to numerous terrorist groups.

MAHMOOD RASHID AMUR AL HAB SI
Omani national Al Habsi has facilitated the sale and shipment of Iranian oil through his
companies to obscure the IRGC-QF’s involvement. Al Habsi’s companies have transported
shipments worth tens of millions of dollars. Al Habsi has worked in partnership with senior
IRGC-QF o icials, including Rostam Ghasemi, who was previously designated pursuant to
E.O. 13224 in 2019 for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF, and has managed a vast
network of individuals, shipping and oil companies, and vessels to sell Iranian petroleum
products for the group’s benefit. As part of his oversight of shipping operations, Al Habsi has
tampered with the automated identification systems that are onboard vessels, forged
shipping documents, and paid bribes, circumventing restrictions related to Iran.
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Treasury Targets Oil Broker Network Supporting Qods Force | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Al Habsi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially
assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or
services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF.

AL HAB SI B USINESS NETW ORK
Al Habsi used his Oman-based company, Nimr International L.L.C., to facilitate the sale and
shipment of Iranian oil in support of the IRGC-QF. Nimr International L.L.C. is being
designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by,
directly or indirectly, Al Habsi.
Al Habsi also used Oman-based Orbit Petrochemicals Trading LLC to facilitate Iranian oil
deals that obscure the IRGC-QF’s involvement. Orbit Petrochemicals Trading LLC is being
designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by,
directly or indirectly, Nimr International L.L.C.
Bravery Maritime Corporation, a Liberian-registered company, is being designated pursuant
to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly,
Al Habsi. The Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker Oman Pride, which has been used to
transport Iranian oil, is being identified as property in which Bravery Maritime Corporation
has an interest.
Romania-based Nimr International S.R.L. is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as
amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Al Habsi.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s designations, all property and interests in property subject to U.S.
jurisdiction of the persons designated are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited
from engaging in transactions with the designated persons or their blocked property. In
addition, foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for, or
persons that provide material or certain other support to, the persons designated today risk
exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the U.S. financial system or block their
property or interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction.
View more information about today’s sanctions here.
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