The Department of State is today designating Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) and its Secretary General Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. KSS terrorist activity has threatened the lives of both U.S. and Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS personnel in Iraq and Syria.
Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is designating six individuals affiliated with Iran-aligned militia group Kata’ib Hizballah (KH). Iran, through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its external operations force known as the Qods Force, has supported KSS, KH, and other Iran-aligned militia groups with training, funding, and sophisticated weapons — including increasingly accurate and lethal unmanned aerial systems. KSS, working at times with other U.S.-designated organizations, including KH and Harakat al-Nujaba, has planned and supported attacks against U.S. personnel.
Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The United States remains committed to using all available tools to counter Iran’s support for terrorism and degrade and disrupt the ability of Iran-backed groups to conduct terrorist attacks.
Today’s actions are being taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, terrorist organizations, leaders, and officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. Terrorist designations expose and isolate entities and individuals, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and the resources they need to carry out attacks. Moreover, designations can assist law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and governments. KSS is being designated for having committed or attempted to commit, posing a significant risk of committing, or having participated in training to commit acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji is being designated for being a leader of KSS. For more information on Treasury’s designations, see Treasury’s press release page.
Official news published at https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designations-of-iran-aligned-militia-groups/
