ZCZC
BCN-08
US-IRAN-SANCTIONS–OIL-BANK
Sweeping Iran sanctions target oil, banks
WASHINGTON, Nov 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Iran’s oil exports and financial
transactions will be targeted under US sanctions that take force Monday, six
months after President Donald Trump bolted from a nuclear deal.
Three days ahead, Washington detailed its specific actions targeting
Iran’s banking, shipping and energy sectors, threatening penalties against
companies, even those of US allies in Europe and elsewhere, who do business
in them.
The sanctions bring back the punitive measures that were imposed and then
lifted by former president Barack Obama, who reached an international
agreement under which Iran moved to end its nuclear program.
– Sanctions already reimposed –
On August 7, the first sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal came
into force, banning:
– The Iranian government’s purchases of dollars, or the international
buying and selling of significant sums of rials, Iran’s currency under
pressure
– Purchases of Iranian treasury bonds
– Trade in gold or other precious metals, aluminum, steel, carbon or
graphite
– Automobile and commercial aviation trade
– US imports of Iranian carpets or foodstuffs
– Sanctions coming into force Monday –
The toughest of the Obama-era sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal
will come back, including bans on:
– Importing oil and condensate from Iran, the country’s largest earners of
foreign exchange. The Trump administration says it aims for Iranian oil
exports to be “as close to zero as possible.” But the US is giving exemptions
to eight countries — likely including India, Japan and Turkey — that will
continue to buy Iranian oil but at lower levels than in the past.
BSS/AFP/HR/0922
ZCZC
BCN-09
US-IRAN-SANCTIONS–OIL-BANK 2 LAST WASHINGTON
That gradual approach, US officials said, will help avoid any shock to
global markets by a total cutoff of Iranian crude.
Those countries also agreed to place their payments in escrow accounts
that Tehran will only be able to tap for humanitarian trade and trade in non-
sanctioned goods and services, US officials said.
– Financial transactions. Starting on Monday, any foreign institution that
does business with Iran’s central bank or other banks in the country will
lose access to the US financial system. The risks for foreign banks are high
in a globalized economy in which the dollar remains the dominant currency.
SWIFT, the international system of interbank transfers headed in Belgium,
will be affected, according to US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin said SWIFT will have to stop dealing with Iranian financial
institutions on the US blacklist or face sanctions itself.
– Expanding the blacklist: Washington said 700 people, companies and other
entities, like aircraft and ships, will be added or re-added to the US
sanctions blacklist as well on Monday.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925