The US government announced on the 31st that three Lebanese and Turkish companies and one company leader had raised funds for Iran's elite military, the Revolutionary Guards, and the Shiite Islamic organization Hezbollah, through trade in Iranian products. It was announced that the company had been added to a list of sanctions, including asset freezing.
On the 31st, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had added two Lebanese companies, one Turkish company, and their CEO to a sanctions list that includes freezing their assets.
Specifically, one Lebanese company is under the command of a senior member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, which primarily performs special missions overseas, and sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian products to Syria. In addition to being involved in financing, Turkish companies are also said to have shared profits earned through trade in Iranian products with the Shiite Islamic organization Hezbollah.
In the Middle East, Iranian-backed organizations are increasing their activities, including attacks on US military bases, and the US government is tightening sanctions.
State Department spokesperson Miller said at a press conference that the sanctions are "part of our ongoing efforts to hold people accountable" for the attack on a US military base in Jordan that left a soldier dead. It says it is not related to retaliatory measures.