U.S. Treasury taps IRISL, affiliates for advancing Iran proliferation

U.S. Treasury taps IRISL, affiliates for advancing Iran proliferation The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control this week designated the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and 18 other affiliated entities for providing logistical services to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.
   “Not only does IRISL facilitate the transport of cargo for U.N. designated proliferators, it also falsifies documents and uses deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce,” said Stuart Levey, under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “IRISL’s actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs. That conduct should give pause to any financial institution or business still choosing to deal with Iran.”
   MODAFL, which was designated by the U.S. State Department in October 2007, has the ultimate authority over previously designated entities including the Aerospace Industries Organization, an umbrella group that controls Iran’s ballistic missile research, development and production activities and organizations, the Treasury Department said.
   'IRISL is Iran’s national maritime carrier, a global operator with a worldwide network of subsidiaries, branch offices and agent relationships,' a statement from the department said. 'It provides a variety of maritime transport services, including bulk, breakbulk, cargo and containerized shipping. These services connect Iranian exporters and importers with South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. According to information available to the U.S. government, IRISL also facilitates shipments of military-related cargo destined for MODAFL and its subordinate entities, including organizations that have been designated by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13382 and listed by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747.'
   The U.S. government contends IRISL has deliberately blurred its activities in an attempt to circumvent controls of weapons proliferation.
   'In order to ensure the successful delivery of military-related goods, IRISL has deliberately misled maritime authorities through the use of deception techniques,' the statement said. 'These techniques were adopted to conceal the true nature of shipments ultimately destined for MODAFL. Furthermore, as international attention over Iran’s WMD programs has increased, IRISL has pursued new strategies, which could afford it the potential to evade future detection of military shipments.
   'Specifically, IRISL has employed the use of generic terms to describe shipments so as not to attract the attention of shipping authorities, and created and made use of cover entities to conduct official IRISL business. For example, in 2007, IRISL transported a shipment of a precursor chemical destined for use in Iran’s missile program. The end user of the chemical was Parchin Chemical Industries, an entity listed by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13382 and listed in UNSCR 1747 as a subordinate of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization.'
   The affiliated entities also designated by the Treasury Department are: Valfajr 8th Shipping Line Co. SSK; Khazar Sea Shipping Lines; Irinvestship Ltd.; Shipping Computer Services Co.; Iran o Misr Shipping Co.; Iran o Hind Shipping Co.; IRISL Marine Services & Engineering Co.; Irital Shipping SRL Co.; South Shipping Line Iran; IRISL Multimodal Transport Co.; Oasis Freight Agencies; IRISL Europe Gmbh; IRISL Benelux NV; IRISL China Shipping Co. Ltd.; Asia Marine Network Pte. Ltd.; CISCO Shipping Co. Ltd.; and IRISL (Malta) Ltd.