News
U.S. Blacklists Iranian Bank, Shipping Front Companies on Heels of U.N. Resolution
By Colby Adams
printThe U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday added another Iranian bank to its list of 16 Iran-controlled financial institutions that U.S. companies are prohibited from doing business with. Tehran-based Post Bank of Iran "stepped into the shoes" of Iran's Bank Sepah after U.S. officials imposed sanctions against the latter in January 2007 for allegedly helping Iran finance a nuclear weapons program, said the department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart Levey, during a press conference in the department's headquarters. Following the Treasury Department's decision to blacklist Bank Sepah, Post Bank expanded its business outside of Iran's borders to facilitate international...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
Recent congressional disclosures and leaked diplomatic cables highlight the difficulties the United States faces in convincing even stalwart allies to enforce economic sanctions against Iran, say analysts.
It was an announcement sure to raise some eyebrows among sanctions compliance officers: on Aug. 29, the international trade group Economic Cooperation Organization said it would not enforce sanctions against Iran, according to news reports.
Domestic banks and foreign financial institutions with U.S. branches are scrambling to comply with a tough new U.S. law and subsequent regulations designed to cripple the Iranian financial system, say analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday blacklisted seven individuals and 22 organizations, including two banks in Belarus and one in Iran over their alleged ties to Iran's nuclear program.
Businesses and individuals seeking to evade sanctions that target Iran and other nations may be utilizing back-to-back letters of credit to disguise their roles in transactions, say trade analysts.
The Council of the European Union agreed Monday to implement economic sanctions against Iran, including prohibitions on transactions involving Iranian banks and energy companies.
A Web site that purports to list the foreign correspondent relationships of many of Iran's financial institutions could cause U.S. institutions to rethink their ties to well-known international banks.
Additional banking and trade restrictions that target the finance and supply of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs were passed by the U.N. Security Council Wednesday.