Trump Targets Iran Banks, Seeking Crippling Blow Before US Vote

By Shaun Tandon

President Donald Trump's administration imposed sweeping sanctions Thursday on Iran's banking sector, taking a major new step to cripple Iran's already struggling economy weeks ahead of US elections.

The Treasury Department said it was designating 18 major Iranian banks, a move that could largely cut off the nation of 80 million people from the world's financial system just as it tries to cope with the Middle East's worst Covid-19 outbreak.

The United States defied concerns from European allies that the sanctions could cause needless suffering and insisted it was making exemptions for humanitarian trade.

The Trump administration did not list specific accusations against most of the banks, instead declaring broadly that the entire Iranian financial sector may be used to support the government's contested nuclear program and its "malign regional influence."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the action would "stop illicit access to US dollars."

"Our sanctions programs will continue until Iran stops its support of terrorist activities and ends its nuclear programs," he said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of trying to "blow up our remaining channels to pay for food and medicine" during the pandemic.

"Iranians WILL survive this latest of cruelties. But conspiring to starve a population is a crime against humanity," Zarif wrote on Twitter.

"Culprits & enablers—who block our money—WILL face justice."

Ahead of Election

The Treasury Department said it was exempting transactions in humanitarian goods such as food and medicine.

But European diplomats and some experts say US sanctions nonetheless have dire consequences, with few institutions willing to take the risks of legal action in the world's largest economy.

Barbara Slavin, director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, described the move as "sadism masquerading as foreign policy," saying it would only hurt ordinary people and encourage smuggling, working against sanctions that are already in place.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions will be effective in 45 days, giving companies time to wind down transactions in Iran.

The timeframe will also give anyone working with Iran a chance to see the November 3 election, with polls showing Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden, who supports a return to diplomacy.

Trump has pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" aimed at reining in Iran, the arch-rival of US allies Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The Trump administration has already moved to stop all Iranian oil exports and bolted from a deal negotiated under former president Barack Obama through which Iran curtailed its nuclear program.

Since Trump's imposition of unilateral sanctions, Iran has taken small but steady moves away from the nuclear accord.

Biden's running mate pick Kamala Harris, in a debate Wednesday with Vice President Mike Pence, said the pullout from the accord has led to Iran building "what might end up being a significant nuclear arsenal."

The US had been part of the Iran nuclear deal along with world allies but "because of Donald Trump's unilateral approach to foreign policy, coupled with his isolationism, he pulled us out and has made America less safe," she said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly butted heads on Iran with European allies, who most recently rejected a US legal argument that Washington can revive UN sanctions against Tehran.

Photo: Wikicommons

U.S. Sanctions Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif as Tensions Rise

By Saleha Mohsin and Justin Sink

The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in a provocative move that diminishes the prospects for a diplomatic solution to rising tensions that have brought the U.S. and Tehran to the brink of war.

The U.S. said Zarif, viewed as Iran’s most skilled diplomat, acts on behalf of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was previously sanctioned.

“Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader and is the regime’s primary spokesperson around the world,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behavior is completely unacceptable.”

Tensions have been flaring around the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks as Iran lashes out against U.S. sanctions that are crippling its oil exports. Iran is producing oil at the slowest clip since 1986, making U.S. sanctions one of the toughest challenges confronting Iran’s economy since the 1979 revolution.

The largely symbolic sanctions won’t prevent Zarif from traveling to the United Nations in New York for official business. The penalties would block Zarif’s access to any property the has in the U.S., though he said in a tweet that he has none so the sanctions will have no effect.

Zarif, who has been Iran’s foreign minister since 2013, was the lead negotiator in the multinational nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It was supposed to yield economic advantages for Iran, but instead renewed U.S. sanctions have shattered that expectation since President Donald Trump quit the accord last year.

The U.S. sanctions may bolster Zarif’s standing in Iran, where hard-liners have long blamed him for helping to craft the nuclear accord. “Thank you for considering me such a huge threat to your agenda,” Zarif said in his tweet.

Zarif oversees a Foreign Ministry that has “coordinated with one of the Iranian regime’s most nefarious state entities, the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), which is designated pursuant to terrorism and human rights authorities,” according to a statement from the Treasury Department.

The Trump administration said last month it was planning to sanction Zarif, who received his bachelor’s and advanced degrees at U.S. universities.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has dismissed Zarif’s role in setting the government’s policy, which he said is driven by Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Foreign Minister Zarif is no more in charge of what’s going on in Iran than a man in the moon,” Pompeo said on Bloomberg Television last week. “At the end of the day, this is driven by the ayatollah. He will be the ultimate decision-maker here.”

Zarif said earlier this month that Iran’s leaders know they can’t count on Trump losing his 2020 re-election bid.

“There is a better than 50% chance that he might still be in office, so we will need to deal with him for another six years,” Zarif said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Photo: IRNA

US Hits Iran Petrochemical Group PGPIC with Sanctions

The United States has hit Iran's petrochemical group PGPIC with economic sanctions due to its ties with the country's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the Treasury Department announced on Friday.

The move aims to choke off financing to the country's largest and most profitable petrochemical group and extends to its 39 subsidiaries and "foreign-based sales agents," Treasury said in a statement.

Those include UK-based NPC International and Philippines-based and NPC Alliance Corporation that are controlled by PGPIC.

"This action is a warning that we will continue to target holding groups and companies in the petrochemical sector and elsewhere that provide financial lifelines to the IRGC," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

Treasury warned that international companies continuing to partner with PGPIC or subsidiaries and sales agents "will themselves be exposed to US sanctions."

Following President Donald Trump's decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, US efforts over the past year to choke off Iran's economy have angered allies as foreign companies get caught up in the dispute.

Several countries have halted oil imports from Iran, while Europe has tried to design a mechanism to continue trading with the country without violating US sanctions.

Treasury said it is penalizing PGPIC due to its links to the economic arm of the IRGC, known as Khatam al-Anbiya. The holding company has awarded contracts to Khatam al-Anbiya "generating hundreds of millions of dollars for an IRGC economic conglomerate that stretches across Iran?s major industries."

Washington in April branded the IRGC a terrorist organization, the first time it has taken the step against part of a foreign government. The move meant anyone who deals with the Revolutionary Guards could face prison in the United States.

'Deny Funding'

The new sanctions prohibit the firm and its subsidiaries from accessing the US market or financial system, including through other foreign companies, and blocks all funds or property that is in the United States or held by a US firm.

The penalties could extend to "any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant financial transaction or provides significant financial services for entities designated," the statement said.

"By targeting this network we intend to deny funding to key elements of Iran's petrochemical sector that provide support to the IRGC," Mnuchin said.

The PGPIC group holds 40 percent of Iran's total petrochemical production capacity and is responsible for 50 percent of the country's petrochemical exports, Treasury said.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have escalated further in recent weeks after Trump last month deployed additional troops to the region and resumed arm sales to Saudi Arabia to protect against what the United States said was the threat of an imminent attack.

Trump on Thursday said he would be willing to reopen talks as long as Iran agreed to give up nuclear weapons. But Tehran ruled out talks until the United States is ready to "return to normal."

Photo: PGPIC

US Announces Sanctions on Key Iranian Paramilitary Force

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday slapped sanctions on an Iranian paramilitary group along with a network of businesses that were providing it financing, as part of Washington's campaign of maximum economic pressure against Tehran.

In announcing the sanctions, Treasury said a network of more than 20 businesses known as the Bonyad Taavon Basij was financing the Basij Resistance Force, a component of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It also accused the militia of sending child soldiers to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The international community must understand that business entanglements with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real world humanitarian consequences," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The Basij, a paramilitary force formed soon after the 1979 revolution, is one of the Iranian regime's primary enforcers of internal security with branches in every province and city of Iran, according to the US Treasury.

"In addition to its involvement in violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses in Iran, the Basij recruits and trains fighters ... including Iranian children, who then deploy to Syria to support the brutal Assad regime," it said. 

It added that in addition to Iranians, the militia recruited Afghan immigrants to Iran through coercion, some of whom had fled to Europe as a result, as well as Pakistani nationals.

"Children recruited by Basij have tragically fought and died on the battleground in Syria," a senior administration official told AFP.

The Bonyad Taavon Basij is said to provide the Basij militia social welfare services, including housing and financial support, and manages economic activities by funding small companies.

"Bonyad Taavon Basij has expanded its reach into Iran's economy by establishing several investment firms through its financial and investment offshoot Mehr Eqtesad Bank," the Treasury statement said.

Among the other companies singled out was Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMC), the largest tractor manufacturer in the Middle East and North Africa which predates the Iranian revolution, that generates millions of dollars in profit for the investment firms that represent the Basij.

Also targeted was Iran's Zinc Mines Development Company, described as the country's "preeminent, multibillion-dollar zinc and lead mining and processing holding company."

Photo Credit: Leader.ir