US Steps Up Sanctions on Iran

World | October 25, 2007, Thursday // 00:00

The US has slapped new sanctions on Iran for supporting terrorists and pursuing nuclear activities, CNN reported.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Thursday announced new economic sanctions against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Quds Force.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps is being designated by the United States as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and the Quds force as a supporter of terrorism.

The sanctions mean that no "US citizen or private organization will be allowed to engage in financial transactions with these persons and entities," Rice said.

"In addition, any assets that these designees have under US jurisdiction will be immediately frozen."

The United States also designated three Iranian state-owned banks for sanctions, two of them "for their involvement in proliferation activities" and the other "as a terrorist financier," Rice said.

"Iran funnels hundreds of millions of dollars each year through the international financial system to terrorists," Paulson said. "Iran's banks aid this conduct using a range of deceptive financial practices intended to evade even the most stringent risk management controls."

"The Iranian government continues to spurn our offer of open negotiations, instead threatening peace and security by pursuing nuclear technologies that can lead to a nuclear weapon; building dangerous ballistic missiles; supporting Shia militants in Iraq and terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories; and denying the existence of a fellow member of the United Nations, threatening to wipe Israel off the map," Rice said.

The Quds Force is blamed by the U.S. military for training and arming Shiite militias in Iraq and smuggling highly lethal explosives into Iraq, where they are used to attack coalition forces. Iran denies the charge.

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