Today, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated several entities and individuals as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

Among those designated were Iranian cargo airline Yas Air, Behineh Trading; three alleged Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) officials; and one Nigerian shipping agent. These parties were designated for their alleged support for the IRGC-QF, an entity that has been previously designated as an SDGT.

According to OFAC’s press release these parties were designated for allegedly shipping weapons to the Levant and Africa, in what OFAC has called a demonstration of Iran’s efforts to evade international sanctions throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Yas Air is an Iranian cargo airline that has been accused by the U.S. Government of transporting illicit cargo – including weapons – to parties in the Levant. According to OFAC, Yas Air has moved IRGC-QF personnel and weapons under the cover of humanitarian aid. Part of this allegation is based on information obtained from a Turkish inspection of one of the Yas Air flights bound for Syria in which weapons including Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns, nearly 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and an assortment of mortar shells were found. In addition to Yas Air, Behineh Trading, a shipping company, and a Nigerian agent were designated today for their alleged involvement in a weapons shipment seized in Nigeria in late October 2010.

While not as devastating as the designation of the commercial civilian airlines of Iran Air and Mahan Air last year, the designation of Yas Air, a major cargo airline, may still have an impact on Iran’s transportation capabilities. THe designation also represents OFAC’s continued efforts to use economic sanctions to apply pressure to the Iranian transportation industry, an effort that involved not only the designations of the aforementioned airlines, but also of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and its fleet of vessels. As mentioned before on this blog, OFAC SDN reconsiderations can be a long and involved process requiring the turning over of a substantial amount of information and can take years to resolve.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.