The United States has imposed sanctions on Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Oil, Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, accusing him of helping Iranian-linked networks sell oil by disguising it as Iraqi crude.
The sanctions were announced on Thursday by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The US also sanctioned three senior members of the Iran-backed groups Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), along with several companies linked to oil operations in Iraq.
According to the Treasury Department, al-Bahadly used his position inside Iraq’s oil sector to help divert Iraqi oil products for the benefit of Iran-affiliated networks and militias.
US officials said he helped an Iranian-linked oil smuggler mix Iranian crude with Iraqi oil before it was shipped to international markets.
The Treasury accused al-Bahadly of helping falsify documents that allowed the blended cargoes to be sold as purely Iraqi oil.
It also said he authorised the transport of several million dollars’ worth
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