Saudi Arabia updates terror list with new 'Iran-linked names'

Saudi Arabia classified 16 new names as belonging to terrorist organisations on Monday.

The kingdom’s state security said it designated 13 individuals and three entities as terrorist organisations, including those with links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps [IRGC], the Syrian regime, the Islamic State group [IS], the Nigeria-based Boko Haram and more.

السعودية تُصنّف (١٦) اسمًا منتميًا لتنظيماتٍ إرهابية. pic.twitter.com/YBzEO3yYp7

— رئاسة أمن الدولة (@pss_ar) June 6, 2022

Member states of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center- which includes the US and the six Gulf council states – said the targeted include three individuals from the IRGC, four individuals and a company linked to IS, and six financiers affiliated with Boko Haram.

It also included both the Bahraini Shia Al-Ashtar and Al-Mukhtar Brigades backed by Iran.

There were two names with ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as well as a fuel company which allegedly facilitated fuel trade for IS and Iranian militias operating in Syria, Saudi State Security said.

One Lebanese and two Iranians were included for links to the IRGC-affiliated Quds Force and Hezbollah, as well as an Afghan and Syrian national for their association with IS in Afghanistan.

The new classification also added six Nigerian nationals for establishing a Boko Haram organisation affiliated cell in the UAE, to collect funds and provide financial assistance to the extremist group in Nigeria.

The new designations come five years after the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center was established, with the aim of countering regional money laundering and terrorist financing networks.