By Al-Fassel | 2024-03-14

The United States has sanctioned two companies involved in shipping over $100 million in Iranian commodities to companies in China on behalf of the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

The MODAFL in late January orchestrated the shipment aboard the Panama-flagged Kohana, a crude oil tanker owned by Hong Kong-registered Kohana Company Limited and operated by Marshall Islands-registered Iridescent Co Ltd.

The Kohana was on its way to the Port of Dalian, China, when the US Treasury announced the sanctions, according to Marine Traffic, an online vessel tracker.

"Iran's Ministry of Defense is engaged in a series of schemes to fund destabilizing activities," Treasury official Brian Nelson said February 27.

These range from "supplying militia groups with weapons used to attack US forces to aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine," he said.

Entities affiliated with MODAFL help to produce Iranian weapon systems, including drones, many of which are transferred to Russia, the Treasury said.

Others are provided to Iran's web of proxy and partner groups to use against US, allied and partner interests throughout the Middle East, it added.

Iran allocates billions of dollars worth of commodities to its military, including to the MODAFL, in order to bankroll its destabilizing activities.

The US Treasury "will continue to disrupt the illicit revenue-generation efforts that support these destabilizing acts," Nelson said.