US santions Iranian airline after Saudi envoy murder plot

Treasury Department said the airline secretly transported members of a military force accused of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador on US soil.The Treasury Department said commercial carrier Mahan Air transported members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-Qods Force -- a force directly linked to the plot -- and Hezbollah across the Middle East.Any of the airlines assets in the United States will now be frozen and US citizens will be barred from doing business with the firm.The announcement came a day after Washington leveled the accusations at Tehran and the Treasury Department moved to block the assets of five individuals directly linked to the alleged assassination plot, which has sent diplomatic shockwaves around the world.The Treasury Department accused Mahan Air of ferrying Iranian operatives between Iran and Syria for military training and Revolutionary Guards officers in and out of Iraq, and of transporting members of Lebanon-based Hezbollah -- which the US deems a terrorist organization.Mahan Airs close coordination with the IRGC-QF -- secretly ferrying operatives, weapons and funds on its flights -- reveals yet another facet of the IRGCs extensive infiltration of Irans commercial sector to facilitate its support for terrorism, said the Treasurys sanctions czar David Cohen.Following the revelation about the IRGC-QFs use of the international financial system to fund its murder-for-hire plot, todays action highlights further the undeniable risks of doing business with Iran.