The Trump Administration unilaterally imposed sweeping Sanctions on Iran’s financial sector in a move that critics say could have unintended consequences, including a detrimental impact on the ability of the Iranian people to access humanitarian resources. October 8th’s tranche of sanctions, coming less than a month before the US presidential election, are the latest in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign that they say is aimed at causing the Iranian government to change its policies. In a press release, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned 16 banks “for operating in Iran’s financial sector,” one bank “for being owned or controlled by a sanctioned Iranian bank,” and another bank affiliated with the Iranian military. Under the new sanctions, “all property and interests in property of designated targets that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to” the Office of Foreign Assets Control. “In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities after a 45-day wind-down period may expose themselves to secondary sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action,” the Treasury Department said.”Today’s action to identify the financial sector and sanction eighteen major Iranian banks reflects our commitment to stop illicit access to U.S. dollars,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Our sanctions programs will continue until Iran stops its support of terrorist activities and ends its nuclear programs.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions “are directed at the regime and its corrupt officials that have used the wealth of the Iranian people to fuel a radical, revolutionary cause that has brought untold suffering across the Middle East and beyond.””The United States continues to stand with the Iranian people, the longest-suffering victims of the regime’s predations,” he said in a statement on October 8. Supporters of the move say it is consistent with the Trump administration’s campaign against the Iranian government.”Targeting Iran’s financial sector is the next logical step for an administration which has significantly driven down Iranian oil revenues and sanctioned sectors supporting Iran’s missile, nuclear, and military programs,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu of the neoconservative-aligned think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).”These steps help to sever lingering Iranian touch-points to the international financial system, and thus sharpen the choice Tehran faces as it continues to prioritize regime interest over national interest,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin claimed that “today’s actions will continue to allow for humanitarian transactions to support the Iranian people,” and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said they “do not affect existing authorizations and exceptions for humanitarian exports to Iran, which remain in full force and effect.”
