U.S. to unveil new sanctions against Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States is to unveil new sanctions against Iran on Monday, November 21, targeting its financial, oil and petro-chemical sectors, according to briefings by U.S. officials to several American news outlets.

According to AFP, the reported sanctions aim to up the pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program after a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog strongly suggesting Iran was researching nuclear weapons.

They also follow U.S. allegations last month that Iranian officials were involved in a thwarted plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Iran has strongly denied both that it wants it a nuclear arsenal and that it had any hand in the alleged plot.

According to unidentified U.S. officials quoted Monday on the websites of the Wall Street Journal and ABC television, the United States is to declare the Iranian financial sector of "primary money-laundering concern."

That phrase activates a section of the U.S. Patriot Act, and would effectively warn European, Asian and Latin American businesses away from Iran if they want to continue to do business with the United States.

The Wall Street Journal noted that, when the same measure was used against Lebanese and North Korean banks in recent years, there were immediate runs on deposits in those countries.

ABC's website also said Britain and Canada would announce coordinated unilateral sanctions on Iran that would further tighten the financial noose.

The U.S. officials giving the briefings further said that U.S. sanctions would be applied to goods and services used in Iran's oil and petro-chemical industries, preventing foreign investment.

The New York Times last Friday quoted an unnamed Western official as saying European nations were expected to follow suit with their own sanctions later this week.