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U.K. and EU to Freeze Assets of Iran’s Bank Melli
printThe U.K. and the European Union will freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli, over Iran's alleged plans to build a nuclear weapons program, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today. "We are clear that if Iran continues to ignore united resolutions, to ignore our offers of partnership, we have no choice but to intensify sanctions," Brown said during a joint press conference with U.S. President George Bush. A transcript of the press conference was published on the White House's website. In addition to targeting Bank Melli, an institution sanctioned by the United States on October 25 for...
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The sanctions would call for increased international scrutiny of transactions with Iran's largest banks, including their international subsidiaries, and the freezing of assets of individuals tied to the country's purported nuclear weapons program.
Economic sanctions targeting Iran for its pursuit of nuclear weapons might not be achieving U.S. objectives and should be reconsidered, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in an audit report.
The sanctions are part of a "comprehensive" drive by the U.S. to increase pressure on Iran, said Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. That effort has been frustrated by the hesitation of the United Nations and international community in following the U.S.
The designation would officially block all or part of Iran's 125,000-strong Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's elite military unit, from dealing with U.S. financial institutions.
Two of the most stringent of several federal bills meant to increase pressure on Iran would forbid banks from processing transactions indirectly tied to Iranian entities. The bills, H.R.1400 and S.970, jointly called the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, would prohibit u-turn transactions.
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The measure, which names Bank Sepah a financial supporter of illicit weapons proliferation, has the added force of following a U.N. resolution against Iran. That elevates the pressure U.S. allies to follow suit.
The sanctions put pressure on U.S. banks to conduct greater due diligence on correspondent accounts to determine if they are linked to the Middle Eastern nation. That will likely continue a trend of foreign institutions dropping business dealings with the country.