U.S. Treasury Department:

May 19, 2020

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating China-based Shanghai Saint Logistics Limited for acting as a general sales agent (GSA) for or on behalf of Iranian airline Mahan Air. This is the seventh designation of a GSA to Mahan Air since 2018. Mahan Air is designated under counterterrorism authorities for providing support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), as well as under a counter proliferation authority that targets weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters.

“The Iranian regime is using Mahan Air to support an illegitimate and corrupt regime in Venezuela, just as it has done for the regime in Syria and for terrorist proxy groups throughout the Middle East,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “We will not hesitate to target those entities that continue to maintain commercial relationships with Mahan Air.”

For years, Mahan Air flights have transported terrorists and lethal cargo throughout the Middle East, including to Syria to prop up the murderous Assad regime. Mahan Air is currently operating charter flights to Venezuela for Iranian technicians and technical equipment, using materials sourced from China. This scheme supports the illegitimate Maduro regime’s efforts to revive its energy production, languished by its corruption and mismanagement. The Government of Venezuela is reportedly paying for this support with gold bars directly from the Central Bank of Venezuela — gold that belongs to the Venezuelan people.

Mahan Air was designated in October 2011 pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 for providing financial, material, or technological support for or to the IRGC-QF. Mahan Air has transported IRGC-QF operatives, weapons, equipment, and funds abroad in support of the IRGC-QF’s regional operations and has also moved weapons and personnel for Hizballah. Since the onset of the Syrian civil war, Mahan Air has routinely flown fighters and materiel to Syria to prop up the Assad regime, which has contributed to the regime’s atrocities and displacement of civilians. In December 2019, the Department of State designated Mahan Air pursuant to E.O. 13382, a counter proliferation authority targeting weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters.

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