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United Nations Issues Third Round of Sanctions Against Iran
By Brian Orsak
printThe United Nations Security Council voted for a third round of economic sanctions against Iran over the country's alleged ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Fourteen of the organization's 15-member Security Council, which issues recommendations on international peace initiatives, supported a measure calling for tighter monitoring of Iranian financial institutions, travel bans on individuals involved with Iran's nuclear program and inspections on cargo shipped to and from the country, according to a United Nations press release. The latest resolution against the country, which has been increasingly ostracized by the U.S. and European governments in the past year, also adds 13 names...
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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.
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The designations require U.S. institutions to turn down business and freeze the assets of an Iranian military leader, two Shia extremist leaders and a former Iraqi Parliament member believed to be secretly operating a television station in Syria.
Economic sanctions against Iran have become particularly burdensome to American and European financial institutions because they require freezing, or blocking transactions for large, government controlled entities, compliance professionals say.
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.