Visit from top US sanctions officials a message to Anwar govt - analysts

Analysts view a US delegation’s upcoming visit to Malaysia as intended to send a signal to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

This comes as the US announced its Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson and Treasury general counsel Neil MacBride will travel to Malaysia and Singapore from May 6 to 9.

According to a statement on the US Treasury website the visit is to advance its work countering terrorist financing and revenue generation by Iran and its proxies and to discuss the implementation of sanctions and export controls against Russia.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said the visit is to send a signal to the Malaysian government that the US is taking the sanctions against Iran and Russia seriously.

"Malaysia has been a vocal supporter of Hamas and Palestinians while the US is an important trade and investment partner to Malaysia especially on semiconductors.

"I am sure that Anwar and his administration would like to reassure the US government that it will not support terrorism or aggressors," he told Malaysiakini.

At the same time, Malaysia needed to tighten its control on financial scams and laundering used by perpetrators to funnel funds to those under sanctions, he added.

Gaza aid not Hamas funds

Another political analyst, Azmi Hassan, said that a common scenario is one where the US advises Malaysia to take appropriate action to block any channelling of funds if it deems there was an increase in funds flowing to Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, through the Malaysian financial system.

"But for me, there is no evidence that the government is also involved in this financial channelling, whether through NGOs or government bodies. It would be difficult to prove because there is no evidence in that direction.

"The fact is that the government does not give aid to Hamas, as a so-called terrorist group, but as humanitarian aid to the elected government that rules in Gaza," he added.

The worst-case scenario, he opined, would see Malaysia being considered a transit point for channelling funds and that the government was aware of it but did nothing.

In December, Reuters said the US Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on four Malaysian-based companies accused of being fronts for supporting Iran’s drone production.

Significant US actions

In the US Treasury statement, it said the Treasury has imposed significant sanctions on Iran and its terrorist proxies including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, to sever the financial flows that fuel Middle East instability.

"Since the beginning of this year, Treasury has taken several significant actions to combat and disrupt the illicit shipment of Iranian oil to buyers in East Asia, including shipments via ship-to-ship transfers in international waters near Singapore and Malaysia.

“Treasury has continued working with the US private sector to prevent diversion of dual-use goods to Russia,” it added.

During their visit to Malaysia, Nelson and MacBride are expected to discuss US efforts to disrupt terrorist financing, including through fundraising for fraudulent charities and illicit oil sales while ensuring that US sanctions and other financial measures do not impede the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

They will also meet with the financial sector to discuss compliance and enforcement efforts, the statement read.

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