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☆ Biden says he expects Iranian strike on Israel 'sooner than later'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden said Friday that he expects Iran will strike Israel soon, and reiterated that the U.S. would support and defend Israel if such an attack occurred. We will support Israel, we will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he said. Iranian officials, including the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have vowed to retaliate against Israel over the attack on its consulate in Damascus. In response, Israel has threatened to launch a direct strike on Iran if it comes under attack. NBC News reported last week that an Iranian attack on Israel could focus on military or intelligence targets, rather than civilians, two U.S. officials said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Eisenhower, Israel, Biden, John Kirby, Kirby, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Quds Organizations: National Action Network Convention, White, National Security, NBC News, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: Washington ,, Iran, U.S, Israel, Damascus

☆ Over 60% of illegal crypto activity is tied to sanctioned groups or terrorist organizations, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The American blockchain analysis firm's "2024 Crypto Crime Report" found that $24.2 billion of illicit cryptocurrency was transferred in 2023, based on already identified illicit crypto wallets. Chainalysis retroactively updates its yearly crypto figures when new illicit wallets come to light. watch nowCrypto to avert sanctionsEntities like the crypto "mixer" Tornado Cash and Garantex took the lion's share of illicit funds in 2023. The amount of crypto transferred to sanctioned entities has climbed in recent years in tandem with a greater share of new trade restrictions specifying crypto wallets. Terrorist financingIllicit crypto volume identified by Chainalysis as terrorist financing accounted for a much smaller proportion than that of transactions to sanctioned entities in 2022.

Persons: Andrea Gacki, cryptocurrency, Chainalysis, Andrew Fierman, Garantex, Tornado Cash, Lazarus, Lazarus Group ., Sinbad.io, Chanalysis's Fierman, Tawfiq Muhammad Said Al, Law's, Hayat Tahrir Organizations: Foreign Assets, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Bloomberg, Getty, Hezbollah, CNBC, Tornado, Lazarus Group, U.S . Office, Foreign, Lazarus, National Bureau for, Iran's Quds Force, Al, ISIS, Hayat Locations: New York, Korean, Chainalysis, China, Latin America, North Korea, Iran, Iran's Quds, Syria, cryptocurrency

☆ Iran's Qaani says the resistance front stays united with Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The top commander of Iran's Quds force said the resistance front supported the Tehran-backed Hamas militant group in its war with Israel in Gaza. “Your brothers in the Axis of Resistance stand united with you … the resistance will not allow the enemy to achieve its dirty goals in Gaza and Palestine,” Esmail Qaani said in a message to the commanders of the Tehran-backed group on Thursday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The Quds Force is the arm of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that controls its allied militia in the region, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria. In response, Israel launched an air, ground and sea offensive in Gaza, killing more than 11,500 people, around 40% of them children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave Gaza Strip. Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Iran's Quds, Esmail Qaani, Iran's, Parisa Hafezi, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards Corps, Palestinian Health Ministry, Gaza, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Tehran, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria

☆ How Chainalysis helped Israel disrupt alleged terrorism financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Talia Kaplan | Kaan Oguz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow Chainalysis helped Israel disrupt alleged terrorism financingErin Plante, VP of investigations for Chainalysis, explains how the firm's tools helped Israeli authorities disrupt alleged financing for Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force. She also reveals what other countries Chainalysis is working with to help detect illicit activity.

Persons: Chainalysis, Erin Plante Organizations: Iran's Quds Force Locations: Israel, Iran's Quds

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBlackRock refiles for spot bitcoin ETF, and Binance.US faces falling market share: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Erin Plante, VP of investigations for Chainalysis, explains how the firm's tools helped Israeli authorities disrupt alleged financing for Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force.

Persons: explainers, Erin Plante Organizations: BlackRock, CNBC Crypto, CNBC, Iran's Quds Force Locations: Iran's Quds

REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - As Iran's oil exports rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, senators from both parties urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments. Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a letter to Biden that the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has not been able to seize an Iranian oil shipment for more than a year. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while the United States suspects Tehran wants to develop a nuclear bomb by enriching uranium. Iran's oil exports have reached their highest level since the reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji said last month. Last year the U.S. tried to confiscate a cargo of Iranian oil around Greece, which prompted Tehran to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf.

A large fire last year destroyed a portion of the country's largest oil terminal, Matanzas, and has created obstacles to discharge fuel imports. The Panama-flagged supertanker Nolan this week is loading 400,000 barrels of fuel oil for power generation at Venezuela's Jose terminal. Seeking to avoid its own fuel crisis, Venezuela's oil supplies to Cuba last year fell about 6% to 53,600 barrels per day (bpd), independent data based on tanker movement showed. PDVSA, Venezuela's oil ministry and Cuba's Center for International Press did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The tanker has not sent a signal from its transponder since mid-December while in Venezuela, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data.

"Ayan has established business contracts to sell Iranian oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to buyers," in China, the United Arab Emirates and Europe, the statement says, adding that he then funneled the proceeds back to the Quds Force. The Treasury action will freeze any U.S. assets of those designated and generally bar Americans from dealing with them. Washington maintains sweeping sanctions on Iran and has looked for ways to increase pressure as efforts to resurrect a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran have stalled. The 2015 agreement limited Iran's uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms in return for lifting international sanctions. Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk Editing by Don Durfee and Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File PhotoHOUSTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A grounded oil supertanker under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions being refloated in Indonesia is filled with Venezuelan fuel, according to vessel monitoring services. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control last week imposed sanctions on the stranded tanker, Young Yong, for its part in an international oil smuggling network that Washington said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force. Both tankers had departed between late July and early August carrying fuel oil supplied by Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA, according to internal company documents seen by Reuters and TankerTrackers.com, which confirmed the vessels' identities. The Panama-flagged Eagle Brenda, identified on PDVSA shipping schedules as "Eagle I," also carried some 1 million barrels of Venezuelan fuel oil, the documents showed. The tanker was in Venezuelan waters at least twice since last year, where it loaded Venezuelan crude and fuel for exports, according to PDVSA's schedules and TankerTrackers.com.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on oil smuggling network backing Iran's Quds Force, Hezbollah
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force, targeting dozens of people, companies and tankers as Washington sought to mount pressure on Tehran. The latest U.S. move against Iranian oil smuggling comes as efforts to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal have stalled and ties between the Islamic Republic and the West are increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The move targeted a Gulf-based network that the Treasury said as of mid-2022 were blending and exporting Iranian oil. The 2015 agreement limited Iran's uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms in return for lifting international sanctions.

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