(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (KUNA) -- The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday designated six individuals affiliated "with the Iran-aligned militia group" (IAMG) Kata'ib Hizballah (KH) based in Iraq.
"Today's action sends a message to Kata'ib Hizballah and all other Iran-backed groups that the United States will use all available measures to hold to account any opportunistic actors who seek to exploit the situation in Gaza for their own ends," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement.
"We remain fully committed to security and stability in the Middle East and are steadfast in our efforts to disrupt these destabilizing activities."
The US Treasury said that the KH is trained, funded, and supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The accused the Iraqi group of being behind a spate of recent attacks against the United States and partners in Iraq and Syria.
The US Department of State is also designating Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) and KSS leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji.
KSS, another Iraq-based IAMG that receives support from the IRGC, has planned and been involved in attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria, reads the statement.
KH was previously designated by the US Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2009 for having been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks against US and Iraqi government targets in Iraq, many on behalf of the Government of Iran and the IRGC-QF.
KH has continued to launch unprovoked drone and rocket attacks on Iraqi and US military locations in Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile the US Department of Justice announced that two men were found guilty of conspiracy to sell sanctioned Iranian petroleum.
Zhenyu "Bill" Wang, 42, of Dallas, and Daniel Ray Lane, 42, of McKinney, Texas, were convicted at trial on Nov. 15 on charges of attempting to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to violate IEEPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with their attempt to transact in sanctioned Iranian petroleum and launder the proceeds, the Department of Justice said in a statement. (end)
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