WASHINGTON

The Trump administration sanctioned an Iraqi oil network Tuesday that it accused of covertly working to sell Iranian oil on the international market.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on Iraqi-Kittian dual national Waleed al-Samarra’i and a network of ships and companies it said he owns and uses to smuggle Iranian oil.

The agency said in a statement that al-Sarmarra'i seeks to conceal the oil's true origin by blending it with Iranian oil and marketing it as solely Iraqi. The scheme has produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the businessman and the Iranian government, it alleged in a statement.

“Iraq cannot become a safe haven for terrorists, which is why the United States is working to counter Iran’s influence in the country,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “By targeting Iran’s oil revenue stream, Treasury will further degrade the regime’s ability to carry out attacks against the United States and its allies. We remain committed to an oil supply free from Iran and will continue our efforts to disrupt the ongoing attempts by Tehran to evade U.S. sanctions.”

The Treasury Department said al-Samarra’i is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and sanctioned him, as well as two UAE-based companies -- Babylon Navigation DMCC (Babylon) and Galaxy Oil FZ LLC (Galaxy Oil).

Nine Liberia-flagged ships operated by Babylon to blend the oil at sea and at Iraqi ports are also being blacklisted, as are five Marshall Islands-based shell companies, according to the Treasury Department.