Washington imposes first Iranian sanction after quitting nuke deal

Washington imposes first Iranian sanction after quitting nuke deal. May. 12, 2018 07:37. by Min-Woo Park minwoo@donga.com.
Two days after U.S. President Donald Trump declared withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear weapons, the U.S. government imposed independent sanctions against Teheran.

The measure has been taken for the first time after Washington announced resumption of economic sanctions against Teheran, a measure which analysts say are aimed at cutting off funding funneled into Iran.

In its statement on Thursday (U.S. time), the Treasury Department said the United States and the United Arab Emirates took joint actions to destroy a large-scale currency exchange network that had funneled millions of dollars in cash to the Quds Force, the elite troops of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, adding that it enlisted six individuals and three companies involved on its sanctions list.

“The Iranian regime and its Central Bank have abused access to entities in the United Arab Emirates to acquire U.S. dollars to fund the IRGC-QF's malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the U.S. dollars were acquired," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. He went on to stress that countries around the world should be wary of Iran that is illicitly using those countries’ financial institutions to provide funding for vicious activities committed by the Quds Force and the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

The U.S. Treasury Department is also set to resume sanctions to block the Iranian government from acquiring U.S. dollar bills.