US Senate approves new ambassador and gets tougher on Malta-based Iran firms

America's newly-appointed ambassador to Malta, Gina Abercombie-Winstanley, was very direct about Malta-based Iran firms two weeks ago, as she faced her appointment hearing at the US Senate foreign relations committee in Washington.
She will be replacing Douglas Kmiec who quit his post after being criticised for spending too much time writing and speaking about his Catholic faith.

The US State Department had said Douglas Kmiec devoted several hours a day to his unofficial writings.

Kmiec, a former dean at the Catholic University of America, was appointed to head the US mission in Malta in 2009. He presided over the opening of the mega complex and high security embassy which houses the US embassy in Ta' Qali. Abercombie-Winstanley pledged to make "big-wins" with the Maltese government in addressing issues related to the registering of Iranian ships.

When answering a question put to her by New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, Abercombie-Winstanley said that "the Maltese have taken some steps in the recent past, including agreeing not to reflag any additional Iranian ships, so they will not be reflagging new Iranian ships".

She added that the Maltese "have also been supportive of enforcing UN sanctions with regards to Iranian cargo and they have interdicted ships and seized illegal cargo. So they have taken what we consider some important steps. They're small steps, what we consider small wins. We're going to be working for big wins. So this is something I will take up at an early opportunity".

Last Thursday, Abercombie-Winstanley was officially appointed by the US Senate to take up her ambassadorship in Malta.

At the same time however, the US Treasury intensified its offensive against Tehran, which is seemingly attempting to evade US and EU sanctions by using its own Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines or Yas Air cargo lines.

Washington imposed more sanctions on IRISL due to its connections with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.  It said that IRISL was central to Iran's efforts move its missile programs forward, and transport military cargoes.

"The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has continued to expand its control over the Iranian economy - in particular in the defence production, construction, and oil and gas industries," it said, in what came as a reminder that Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi is a Brigadier General in the IRGC.

The US Department of the Treasury also designated two IRISL front companies based in Malta: Modality Limited and Malship Shipping Agency Ltd. It said that the companies are owned by Mansour Eslami, an IRISL executive.

It said that Eslami had already been designated in October 2010 for his role as director of an IRISL subsidiary, IRISL (Malta) Ltd, and for his co-management of several IRISL-affiliated holding companies.

Two IRISL employees were also targeted this week, including a senior IRISL legal advisor, Seyed Alaeddin Sadat Rasool, and Ali Ezati, IRISL's Strategic Planning and Public Affairs Manager.

The news of new sanctions arrives after a media report last month claimed IRISL has continued its operations on an international scale, and under several guises, with the aim of bypassing sanctions.

"Despite the sanctions, 130 of the 144 banned ships in IRISL's fleet continue to call at many of the world's major ports hidden behind a web of shell companies and diverse ownership," the report said, mentioning Malta as one country where the Iranians could engage in these fraudulent practices.

"Despite being a member of the European Union, Malta not only supplies flagging services to IRISL ships, but is also home to 24 shell companies that help conceal Iran's ownership of vessels," the report said.

Transport Malta reportedly earns around €300,000 annually from registering IRISL ships, according to an estimate made by Reuters news agency, according to a table of tariffs on the TM's website.

Since sanctions have tightened, it has been shown through the Maltese register that the Iranian ships have not only switched flags regularly, but also names, registered owners, registered agents, and the addresses of owners and agents.