September 10, 2008 Major Iranian Shipping Company Designated for Proliferation Activity Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control today designated the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and 18 other affiliated entities, for providing logistical services to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). "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. Department of State in October 2007 under E.O. 13382, has the ultimate authority over previously designated entities including the Aerospace Industries Organization an umbrella group which controls Iran's ballistic missile research, development and production activities and organizations. IRISL is Iran's national maritime carrier; a global operator with a worldwide network of subsidiaries, branch offices and agent relationships. It provides a variety of maritime transport services, including bulk, break-bulk, 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. In order to ensure the successful delivery of military-related goods, IRISL has deliberately misled maritime authorities through the use of deception techniques. 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 (DIO). Also designated today were 17 entities, which were found to be owned or controlled by or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, IRISL. These entities are:
One additional entity, IRISL (UK) Ltd., was designated today for being owned or controlled by Irinvestship Ltd. Today's designations reinforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1803 of March 2008, which among other things, calls upon all States, in a manner consistent with their national legal authorities and international law, to inspect IRISL cargoes to and from Iran, transiting their ports, "provided there is reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel is transporting prohibited goods" pursuant to UNSCRs 1737, 1747 and 1803. These designations also highlight the dangers of doing business with IRISL and its subsidiaries. Countries and firms, including customers, business partners, and maritime insurers doing business with IRISL, may be unwittingly helping the shipping line facilitate Iran's proliferation activities. Identifying Information on Designees: ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OR IRAN SHIPPING LINES A.K.A. Address 1 No. 37, Aseman Tower, Sayyade Shirazee Square, Pasdaran Ave., Tehran, Iran, P.O. Box 19395-1311 Address 2 No. 37, Corner of 7th Narenjestan, Sayad Shirazi Square, After Noboyand Square, Pasdaran Ave., Tehran, Iran VALFAJR 8TH SHIPPING LINE CO SSK AKA Address 1 Shahid Azodi St., Karimkhan Zand Ave., Abiar Alley, P.O. Box 4155, Tehran, Iran Address 2 Abyar Alley, Corner of Shahid Azodi St & Karim Khan Zand Ave., Tehran, Iran KHAZAR SEA SHIPPING LINES AKA Address 1 M. Khomeini St., Ghazian, Bandar Anzali, Gilan, Iran Address 2 No. 1, End of Shahid Mostafa Khomeini St., Tohid Square, P.O. Box 43145, Bandar Anzali, 1711-324, Iran IRINVESTSHIP LTD. Address 1 Registration Number: 4110179 IRAN O HIND SHIPPING COMPANY AKA Address 1 265, Next to Mehrshad, Sedaghat St., Opposite of Mellat Park, Vali Asr Ave., Tehran, IAOO1, Iran Address 2 18 Mehrshad Street, Sadaghat Street, Opposite Park Mellat, Vali-e-Asr Ave., Tehran, Iran SHIPPING COMPUTER SERVICES COMPANY AKA Address 1 No. 37, Asseman, Shahid Sayyad Shirazeesq, Pasdaran Ave., Tehran, Iran, P.O. Box 1587553-1351 Address 3 No. 13, 1st Floor, Abgan Alley, Aban Ave., Karimkhan Zand Blvd., 15976 Tehran IRAN O MISR SHIPPING COMPANY AKA Address 1 El Nahda Building, Elnahda St., 4th Floor, Port Said, Egypt Address 2 No. 41, 3rd Floor, Corner of 6th Alley, Sanaei St., Karim Khan Zand Ave., Tehran, Iran Address 3 6 El Horreya Avenue, Alexandria, Egypt IRISL MARINE SERVICES & ENGINEERING COMPANY AKA Address 1 No. 221, Northern Iranshahr St. Karimkhan Ave., Tehran, Iran Address 2 Karim Khane Zand Ave., Iran Shahr Shomai, No. 221, Tehran, Iran Address 3 Sarbandar, Gas Station, P.O. Box 199, Bandar Imam Khomeini, Iran IRITAL SHIPPING SRL COMPANY Address Fiscal Code: 03329300101 SOUTH SHIPPING LINE IRAN AKA Address 1 Qaem Magham Farahani St., Tehran, Iran Address 2 Apt. No. 7, 3rd Fl., No. 2, 4th Alley, Gandi Ave., Tehran, Iran IRISL MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT CO. AKA Address 1 OASIS FREIGHT AGENCIES AKA Address 1 Sharaf Building, No. 4, 2nd Floor, Al Meena Road, Opposite Customs, Dubai, UAE Address 2 Sharaf Shipping Building, 1st Floor, Al Mankhool St., Bur Dubai, P.O. Box 5562, Dubai, UAE Address 3 Kayed Ahli Building, Jamal Abdul Nasser Road (Parallel to Al Wahda St.), P.O. Box 4840, Sharjah, UAE IRISL EUROPE GMBH Address VAT Number: DE217283818 IRISL BENELUX NV Address VAT Number: BE480224531 IRISL (UK) LTD Address Registration Number: 4765305 IRISL CHINA SHIPPING CO., LTD AKA Address ASIA MARINE NETWORK PTE. LTD. AKA Address 200 Middle Road, #14-01 Prime Centre, Singapore 188980 CISCO SHIPPING CO. LTD. AKA Address 1 Address 2 IRISL (MALTA) LIMITED AKA Address Flat 1, 181, Tower Road, Sliema SLM 1604, Malta These actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order 13382, an authority aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, and at isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. Today's designations are part of the ongoing interagency effort by the U.S. Government to combat WMD trafficking by blocking the property of entities and individuals that engage in proliferation activities and their support networks. Designations under E.O. 13382 are implemented by Treasury's OFAC, and they prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person, and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
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