President Obama’s Statement on EU’s New Iran Sanctions, on Jan. 23
I applaud today’s actions by our partners in the European Union to impose additional sanctions on Iran in response to the regime’s continuing failure to fulfill its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. These sanctions demonstrate once more the unity of the international community in addressing the serious threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program. The United States will continue to impose new sanctions to increase the pressure on Iran. On December 31, I signed into law a new set of sanctions targeting Iran’s Central Bank and its oil revenues. Today, the Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Bank Tejerat for its facilitation of proliferation, and we will continue to increase the pressure unless Iran acts to change course and comply with its international obligations.
Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Iran sanctions, on Jan. 23
We welcome today's decision by the European Union to ban imports of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank, and take additional action against Iran's energy, financial, and transport sectors.
The measures agreed to today by the EU Foreign Affairs Council are another strong step in the international effort to dramatically increase the pressure on Iran. They are consistent with steps the U.S. previously has taken and with new U.S. sanctions on Iran that the President signed into law on December 31. These new U.S. sanctions intensify the ongoing pressure on Iran and strengthen the impact of existing measures by targeting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran and by providing strong incentives to reduce Iran's ability to earn revenue from its oil exports.Taken in combination with the many other sanctions on Iran that continue to be implemented by the United States and the international community, this new, concerted pressure will sharpen the choice for Iran's leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations.
The United States and our international partners are committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That is why we have pursued a dual-track policy that puts pressure on Iran to engage seriously in discussions with the international community on its nuclear program. To date, Iran has failed to take advantage of the offer of engagement described in EU High Representative Ashton's October 2011 letter. Instead, Iran has refused to address the international community's serious and well-founded concerns about its nuclear program. These concerns have only been heightened by Iran's inability to explain how its nuclear program is, as it claims, exclusively peaceful in nature or to provide any credible response to the IAEA's November 2011 report that detailed the potential military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. Treasury Designates Major Iranian State-Owned Bank
1/23/2012
Action Strikes at One of Iran’s Few Remaining Access Points to the Global Financial System
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Iran's third-largest bank, Bank Tejarat, for providing financial services to several Iranian banks and firms already subject to international sanctions for their involvement in Iran’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation activities. With today’s action, 23 Iranian-linked financial institutions, including all of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, have been sanctioned by the U.S. based on their involvement in Iran’s illicit activities.
“At a time when banks around the world are cutting off Iran and its currency is depreciating rapidly, today’s action against Bank Tejarat strikes at one of Iran’s few remaining access points to the international financial system,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David S. Cohen. “Today’s sanction against Bank Tejarat will deepen Iran’s financial isolation, make its access to hard currency even more tenuous, and further impair Iran’s ability to finance its illicit nuclear program.”
Bank Tejarat was designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 (Blocking Property of WMD Proliferators and Their Supporters) for providing financial services to Bank Mellat, the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and the Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), all of which were previously designated by the the Treasury Department or the Department of State for their involvement in Iran’s WMD proliferation activities. Trade Capital Bank also was designated today for providing financial services to EDBI and for being owned or controlled by Bank Tejarat.
Today’s designations of Bank Tejarat and Trade Capital Bank could result in sanctions under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA) for foreign financial institutions that conduct business with Bank Tejarat or Trade Capital Bank. Under CISADA, foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions or provide significant financial services for an Iranian-linked financial institution designated by the U.S. – such as Bank Tejarat or Trade Capital Bank – face the loss of their direct access to the U.S. financial system.
Bank Tejarat has nearly 2,000 branches throughout Iran, as well as foreign branches in Paris, France and Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Trade Capital Bank is a Minsk, Belarus-based bank that is owned by Bank Tejarat.
Bank Tejarat has directly facilitated Iran's illicit nuclear efforts. For example, in 2011, Bank Tejarat facilitated the movement of tens-of-millions of dollars in an effort to assist the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran's (AEOI) ongoing effort to acquire uranium. The AEOI, which reports directly to the Iranian president, is the main Iranian organization for research and development of nuclear technology, and manages fissile material production programs. In addition to being identified in the Annex to E.O. 13382, AEOI is sanctioned by the United Nations under Security Council Resolution 1737.
Bank Tejarat has repeatedly assisted U.S.-designated banks in circumventing international sanctions. In providing financial services to Bank Mellat and EDBI in the past few years, Bank Tejarat has also supported the activities of subsidiaries and subordinates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Defense Industries Organization and MODAFL. Like Bank Tejarat, Trade Capital Bank facilitates Iranian access to the euro by bypassing European regulators.
Bank Tejarat has also provided banking services for IRISL and its U.S. designated affiliates Safiran Payam Darya Shipping Co., South Shipping Line Iran and Khazar Sea Shipping Lines. South Shipping Line was also designated for sanctions by the United Nations in UNSCR 1929.
To date, the U.S. has designated 23 Iranian-linked financial institutions under E.O. 13382 and E.O. 13224, as detailed in the fact sheet.