United States Builds on Iran Sanctions
Washington - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced new financial measures that target Iran's nuclear and missile programs and bolster recent U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"Today's actions also highlight for the international community Iran's use of its financial sector, shipping industry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to carry out and mask its proliferation activities," a Treasury Department fact sheet said ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/June/20100616164919ptellivremos8.663577e-02.html ). The steps respond to the Security Council's call for nations to prevent their financial systems from being abused by Iran.
"We are adding to our list of sanction entities a number of institutions and individuals who are helping Iran finance nuclear and missile programs and to evade international sanctions," Geithner told reporters.
Geithner and Stuart Levey, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, presented the expanded financial measures at a June 16 White House briefing. The European Union also has agreed to move forward on plans for additional measures beyond the Security Council-imposed sanctions approved June 9.
The measures unveiled at the White House block U.S. transactions with listed businesses and banks, and seek to freeze any assets of the entities held in U.S. jurisdiction. An additional impact of U.S. and U.N. measures is that businesses around the world are becoming conscious of the implications of any trade that they conduct with Iran's energy companies, Levey told reporters.
Treasury added Iran's Post Bank for providing financial services to and acting on behalf of Bank Sepah, which was designated by Treasury officials in 2007 for its support of Iran's missile industry, including two companies directly linked to Iran's ballistic missile program - Shahid Bakeri Industries Group and Shaid Hemmat Industries Group. Bank Sepah later was designated by the United Nations in March 2007.
According to the Treasury Department, Post Bank, working on behalf of Bank Sepah, arranged millions of dollars worth of business between Hong Kong Electronics and other overseas beneficiaries. Hong Kong Electronics was added to the Treasury list in June 2009 for providing support to several North Korean entities; North Korea is also under U.N. Security Council sanction for its nuclear weapons program.
Geithner said that with the addition of Post Bank, it brings the number of Iranian-owned banks on the sanctions list to 16.
"We are adding five front companies and more than 90 ship names that Iran's national maritime carrier has been using to try to evade sanctions," Geithner said. Treasury is also adding two individuals and two entities that are actively involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
The new sanctions were imposed against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' air force and missile commands, which are key elements in the operational deployment of Iran's ballistic missile capability. Also added to the sanctions list were Rah Sahel and Sepanir Oil and Gas Engineering Company, Treasury said.
Geithner said Treasury added 22 petroleum, energy and insurance companies, inside and outside Iran, that are owned or controlled by the Iranian government.
Levey said additional sanctions were imposed against Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and front companies.
"Since we first sanctioned IRISL in 2008, it has desperately attempted to evade those sanctions, setting up new front companies, renaming and reflagging and even repainting its vessels to hide their true ownership," Levey said. "Despite its deceptive maneuvers, IRISL has had to struggle to obtain insurance and other services that it needs."
House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman issued a statement supporting Treasury's new designations.
"I strongly support today's action by the Treasury Department to designate dozens of Iranian entities and individuals as contributors to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Berman said. "These designations will significantly extend the reach of comprehensive Iran sanctions legislation that Congress will soon pass, reinforcing and augmenting the international sanctions regime so that we can achieve our goal of persuading Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, in accordance with the demands of the international community."
Levey said that if the Iranian government holds to previous patterns, it will attempt to find ways to work around these additional measures, "hiding behind front companies, doctoring wire transfers, falsifying shipping documents. We will continue to expose this deception."
