U.S. Seeks Cessation of Investments in Iran and U.N. Designation
By Andrew Cochran
Testifying at a Congressional hearing today on Iran, senior Treasury & State Department officials said the U.S. is pressing for American companies to cease further investment in Iran, citing "jawboning" discussions with companies such as Shell Oil. They also said they are pressing for U.N. Security Council designation of Iran's Bank Sepah soon, which in "realspeak" means that U.N. action is in fact likely. The U.S. designated Bank Sepah on January 9 for its support of WMD proliferation, thereby cutting off access by this major Iranian bank to the American axes of the international financial system. U.N. designation would reflect a sea change among U.N. Security Council members over the past year and represent a significant U.S. foreign policy victory. See Matthew Levitt's and Jonathan Winer's posts on this issue. I highly recommend the testimony of Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey at that hearing, as an excellent summary on the graduated financial sanctions applied against Iran to date.
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