US puts sanctions on Central Bank of Iran subsidiary, others

The United States on Wednesday said it had imposed sanctions on a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), along with two entities based in the United Arab Emirates, one in Turkey and on three individuals for smuggling US technology to the CBI.

“These designations target three individuals and four entities tied to the procurement of sophisticated US technology for use by CBI in violation of US export restrictions and sanctions,” the Treasury Department said.

In a statement, the Treasury noted the CBI is itself already under sanction for providing financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF), an elite arm which carries out overseas operations, and on Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-backed armed and political force in Lebanon.

The sanctions represent Washington’s latest efforts to punish Tehran, whose proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Gaza Strip have attacked US and Israeli targets.

The Treasury named the entities as Iran-based Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), a subsidiary of CBI; UAE-based Advance Banking Solution Trading DMCC (ABS), an ISC front company; UAE-based Freedom Star General Trading Co (L.L.C.); and Turkey-based Ted Teknoloji Gelistirme Hizmetleri Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Ted).

A man walks past the Central bank of Iran in Tehran, Iran August 1, 2019 (credit: NAZANIN TABATABAEE/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

It identified the three individuals as ISC Chief Executive Seyed Abotaleb Najafi; Freedom Star President Mohammad Reza Khademi; and ISC employee Pouria Mirdamadi, a dual French and Iranian national it said was involved in Ted’s operations.

“The Central Bank of Iran has played a critical role in providing financial support to the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah, two key actors intent on further destabilizing the Middle East,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in the statement.

Advertisement

As a result of the steps, all property of those sanctioned that is in the United States or falls under the control of US persons is blocked. In general US regulations bar US persons from transactions involving property of those sanctioned.



Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Pioneer Newz is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment