"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

How U.S. Sanctions Financially Squeeze Tehran

Today, the United States imposed stiff sanctions against the Iranian regime, targeting the Iranian military structure and a number of Iranian banks and individuals it accuses of backing nuclear proliferation and terror-related activities.The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its elite unit engaged in terrorism known as the Qods force and nine other IRGC-affiliated entities, the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, three of Iran's largest state-owned banks, five IRGC-affiliated individuals, and three individuals affiliated with Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) are now designated under Executive Orders 13382 and 13224."What this means is that no U.S. citizen or private organization will be allowed to engage in financial transactions with these persons and entities," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a joint announcement with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "In addition, any assets that these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction will be immediately frozen," she added."Iran funnels hundreds of millions of dollars each year through the international financial system to terrorists," Treasury Secretary Henry 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."Last month, representatives of world powers announced that unless a November report shows a "positive outcome" of talks with Iran about its uranium enrichment program, they will move ahead with plans for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on the country.The U.N. Security Council has repeatedly demanded that Iran suspend enrichment of uranium and has imposed limited sanctions on Tehran for refusing to comply. The European Union is weighing its own unilateral sanctions.The sudden fall of Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, from the grace of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and his replacement with another former IRGC commander close to Ahmadinejad, settles one core issue in the nuclear standoff with Tehran: negotiations are at a dead end.The key question, however, is about the effectiveness of international sanctions to halt Tehran’s drive to get the A-bomb.The short answer is that, while not sufficient by themselves, an array of multilateral punitive financial measures within and outside of the United Nations Security Council have put measurable squeeze on Tehran’s financial chokeholds. Equally decisive, they have been instrumental in fueling further political disarray within the regime.
ByAlireza Jafarzadeh
To read more go to:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305221,00.html


As in the days of Noah....