From Secretary Rice's statement: "Today Secretary Paulson and I are announcing several new steps to increase the costs to Iran of its irresponsible behavior. Many of the Iranian regimes' most destabilizing policies are carried out by two of its agencies: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, and the Quds Force, an arm of the IRGC. Because of the Revolutionary Guard's support for proliferation and because of the Quds Force support for terrorism, acting under U.S. law and consistent with our international obligations, the United States today is designating both of these groups. We are similarly designating three Iranian state-owned banks: Bank Melli and Mellat, for their involvement in proliferation activities, and Bank Saderat as a terrorist financier. We are also designating several additional Iranian individuals and organizations.
"What this means is that no U.S. citizen or private organization will be allowed to engage in financial transactions with these persons and entities. In addition, any assets that these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction will be immediately frozen. These actions will help to protect the international financial system from the illicit activities of the Iranian Government and they will provide a powerful deterrent to every international bank and company that thinks of doing business with the Iranian Government."
The State Department website includes a fact sheet on the new sanctions, transcripts of related press briefings, and an "on the record" briefing from Under Secretaries Burns and Levey. Further information will be gathered on the State Department Iran page.
Source: MacAskill, E. (26 Oct. 2007). "US imposes sweeping sanctions on Tehran." Guardian Unlimited.
No comments:
Post a Comment