US targets Iran’s financial lifelines

Washington, Aug 29 (IANS) The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a senior Bank Melli official and a Hong Kong-based company as it moved to cut financial channels used by Iran’s government and armed forces.

The measures target Reza Mohammad Taeedi, the manager of the Dubai branch of Iran’s Bank Melli, the State Department said.

Washington also sanctioned an unnamed Hong Kong-based company that it said had helped designated Iranian individuals and entities gain access to the international financial system.

In a related move, the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, proposed revoking Banque Misr United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) correspondent banking access to American financial institutions.

The Treasury assesses that Banque Misr UAE is a critical channel through which the Iranian government obtains access to US dollars, the State Department said.

“Operation Economic Outcast continues in full force,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement announcing the measures.

The department described Bank Melli as an important financial hub for Iran’s armed forces. It said the bank had supported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Qods Force and Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.

Both organisations are under US sanctions.

“Bank Melli has served as a critical financial hub for Iran’s armed forces, including the IRGC-Qods Force and the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, both US-sanctioned entities,” Pigott said.

The measures extend beyond institutions operating inside Iran. They focus on officials, companies and banks that Washington says assist the Iranian government through financial centres in the UAE and Hong Kong.

The State Department said the actions were part of an intensified US pressure campaign against Tehran and those conducting financial transactions on its behalf.

“Today’s action intensifies our pressure campaign against Iran,” Pigott said. “As the regime prioritises its malign activities above the needs of its people, we will sever the economic lifelines sustaining it.”

“We will target individuals and entities that engage in illicit financial practices on behalf of the Iranian regime, including those working for Iranian banks outside the country,” he added.

The sanctions were imposed under two executive orders, including one from the counterterrorism authority and an order targeting people operating in Iran’s financial sector.

–IANS

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