The United States should more frequently blacklist foreign financial institutions that flout American sanctions barring Iranian oil sales, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Foreign financial institutions and other non-U.S. companies newly tasked with disclosing when their affiliates deal with Iranian government officials are finding the requirements onerous, according to compliance officers and consultants.
American sanctions enforcers will "primarily" focus in coming months on blacklisting Chinese firms that buy and resell defense industry or dual-use goods to Iran, a U.S. Justice Department official said Wednesday.
The authors of a U.S. embargo against Iran's central bank and petroleum industry called on the White House Thursday to be strict with foreign financial institutions under the law's statutes.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday overwhelmingly approved bills that would restrict loans and interbank transfers of credit involving entities that facilitate Iran's petroleum and weapons trade.
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.
The Senate Thursday named David Cohen the nation's top sanctions official after legislators agreed to end a standoff over the U.S. Treasury Department's implementation of financial measures aimed at Iran.
U.S. officials Thursday blacklisted an Iranian financial institution and two other companies linked to the country's elite military arm as lawmakers separately questioned the efficacy of economic sanctions against the nation.
New European sanctions against Iran show how secrecy jurisdictions and trade concerns have compromised efforts to inhibit the Islamic Republic's financial reach, say analysts.
A congressional measure aimed at Iran could spell new compliance duties for U.S. financial institutions, including requiring banks to certify that their correspondent institutions don't maintain accounts for blacklisted Iranians.
A rift between seven Republican lawmakers and the U.S. Treasury Department over financial regulations aimed at Iran is likely to delay the nomination of a new federal counterterrorism chief, say former congressional staffers.
China and other U.S. trading partners continue to provide Iran with energy and banking services five months after the passage of new comprehensive sanctions against the country, lawmakers said Wednesday.