US sanctions three alleged senior al-Qaeda leaders based in Iran

The US treasury has announced sanctions on three Iran-based men alleged to be senior al-Qaeda members involved in moving funds and weapons around the Middle East.

The treasury said Faisal Jassim Mohammed al-Amri al-Khalidi, Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi and Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn had important logistics roles in al-Qaeda.

The treasury said Khalidi, a 31-year-old Kuwait-born Saudi national, was "part of a new generation" of al-Qaeda operatives who in May 2015 participated in a senior leadership meeting as the military commission chief.

Egyptian Bayumi, 48, is an al-Qaeda veteran involved recently in raising and deploying funds for the group.

Ghumayn, a 35-year-old Algerian, took control of the financing and organisation of Iran-based al-Qaeda members last year.

The sanctions authorise the seizure of any assets located in US jurisdictions of those named, and ban Americans and US-based companies from doing business with them - effectively closing off their access to much of the global financial system.

"Treasury remains committed to targeting al-Qaeda's terrorist activity and denying al-Qaeda and its critical support networks access to the international financial system," Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.