US sanctions Iran central bank governor, another official

Action comes a week after President Trump announced that the US was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal

The United States escalated its financial pressure on Iran yesterday by slapping terror sanctions on the head of its central bank and barring anyone around the world from doing business with him, underscoring President Donald Trump’s hard line after his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear accord upset European allies.

‘Global terrorist’

Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Iranian central bank, was named a “specially designated global terrorist” along with another senior official, Ali Tarzali, who works in the central bank’s international division.

The Treasury Department accused the men of secretly funnelling millions of dollars through an Iraqi bank to help Hezbollah, the militant network that the US considers a terrorist group.

Although the sanctions do not technically extend to the central bank itself, they could significantly increase Iran’s isolation from the global financial system. Seif, whose role is equivalent to the Federal Reserve chairman in the US, oversees major financial decisions in Iran. Any transactions that involve his signature could potentially run afoul of the sanctions, creating a strong deterrent to foreign governments or businesses considering transactions involving Iran’s central bank.

“The United States will not permit Iran’s increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

The moves come as Trump’s administration, after deeming the 2015 nuclear deal insufficiently tough on Iran, seeks to construct a global coalition to place enough pressure on Tehran that it comes back to the negotiating table to strike a “better deal.”

The Treasury Department accused the men of secretly funnelling millions of dollars through an Iraqi bank to help Hezbollah.