Can you hear us yet?
The Obama adminstration took further actions in sanctioning the Iranian government yesterday, freezing their financial assets.
From his message to Congress:
I have determined that additional sanctions are warranted, particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies in Iran’s anti-money laundering regime and the weaknesses in its implementation, and the continuing and unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran’s activities.The order also implements section 1245(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81) (NDAA) by blocking the property and interests in property of Iranian financial institutions pursuant to IEEPA.
The order blocks the property and interests in property of the following:
- The Government of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran;
- Any Iranian financial institution, including the Central Bank of Iran; and
- Persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.
You can read the Executive Order HERE (pdf) and his message to Congress HERE (pdf).
