Abdul Majeed Barakat, Vice President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), welcomed the new U.S. sanctions targeting companies that support the activities of the Assad regime and Iran in destabilizing Syria and the region.
In a press statement, Barakat emphasized the importance of imposing more sanctions on the Assad regime, Iran, and their associated entities and individuals to undermine their malicious activities in the region and restrict their access to funds used to fuel their military machine.
He noted that the sanctions process still needs to directly target the regime’s core supporting institutions while sparing the daily lives of ordinary citizens. He also stressed the need for these measures to be accompanied by political actions that help revitalize the political process and ensure the implementation of UN resolutions on Syria, particularly the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and UN Security Council Resolutions 2118 and 2254.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on companies, individuals, and ships linked to the Qaterji company, which operates on behalf of the Assad regime. The sanctions were due to the company’s support for Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Houthi terrorist militia.
The department stated that the sanctions targeted around 26 companies, individuals, and ships connected to the Qaterji company. It noted that the company is responsible for generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for terrorist militias by selling Iranian oil to the Assad regime and China.
In this context, Bradley Smith, an official at the U.S. Treasury Department, said that Iran is increasingly relying on key business partners like the Qaterji company to finance its destabilizing activities and its network of terrorist proxies across the region.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
