The United States Treasury Department on Tuesday released a press statement to announce that the department as well as 7 member nations of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC) made plans and acted upon ways in which the Taliban actors and Iranian sponsors who attempt to destabilise Afghanistan, are disrupted and exposed.
The statement read, “the TFTC Member States designated nine individuals associated with the Taliban, including those facilitating Iranian support to bolster the terrorist group. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated these key Taliban members and their Iranian regime sponsors in partnership with the other TFTC Member States: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”
Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed that the TFTC have played an instrumental role in international security by exposing the key Taliban members and also helping in cracking down on Iranian sponsors for the group. He also stated that “The United States and our partners will not tolerate the Iranian regime exploiting Afghanistan to further their destabilizing behaviour. Iran’s support to the Taliban stands in stark violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and epitomizes the regime’s utter disregard for fundamental international norms.”
Those designated include Mohammad Ebrahim Owhadi (also known as Jalal Vahedi), Esma’il Razavi, Abdullah Samad Faroqui, Mohammad Daoud Muzzamil, Abdul Rahim Manan, Abdul Aziz (also known as Aziz Shah Zamani), Sadr Ibrahim, and Hafiz Majid, and Naim Barch. Naim Barch is the link between Iran and Taliban.
Finally, the statement concluded that the designations support US President Trump’s South Asia Strategy by the action carried out above and by disrupting terrorist safe havens in South Asia, “We will continue to actively target those providing financial support to the Taliban until there is a negotiated peace settlement. The inclusion of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) members supporting Taliban elements in this action highlights the scope of the Iranian regime’s malign activities and regionally destabilizing behaviour and furthers the U.S. maximum pressure campaign against Iran.”
