Iranian bank dismisses new ‘desperate’ US sanctions

The US government has imposed new sanctions on an Iranian bank and its subsidiaries, accusing them of using front companies in three countries to evade the previous sanctions -- allegations which the lender has dismissed as “sheer lies.”

The US Treasury said it had targeted 25 people and firms for allegedly helping Iran’s Ansar Bank evade unilateral American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The action identified four firms in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as front companies for the bank, which it accused of funneling money to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and related groups.

The targeted institutions include banks and other financial institutions such as Ansar Bank, Atlas Exchange, Iranian Atlas Company, the US Treasury said in a statement.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Iranian bank hit back at the “desperate move,” saying it was a testimony to the failure of US sanctions which would fail to affect its operations.

“The excuses mentioned, including Ansar Bank’s connection with overseas networks in Turkey and the UAE, and the names of certain unrelated natural and legal persons cited are sheer delusions and lies, and all such claims are hence rejected,” the bank said.

Ansar Bank is one of the four military-related banks named by the Central Bank of Iran for merger with the country’s oldest bank to boost efficiency amid US sanctions.

Ansar, Mehr Eqtesad, Qavamin, and Hekmat banks and the Kosar Credit Institution are to be merged with Bank Sepah. The central bank says the merger would create “a stable and more efficient single bank to provide better services to the families of the armed forces and the general public.”

Many Iranian banks, institutions and companies linked to investment, commodities and engineering have been the target of the most draconian US sanctions since Washington left an international nuclear deal last May.

Tuesday’s move comes as the Trump administration increases what it calls a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran that focuses heavily on denying it revenue from oil exports.

“With this action today we are increasing our pressure even further on the Iranian regime,” Brian Hook, the US special envoy for Iran, told reporters.

Additionally, Hook said the United States was sanctioning Iran’s defense ministry for providing logistics support to the IRGC. 

The US government on Monday issued an alert, warning international shipping and port operators against flouting its unilateral sanctions against Iran.

PressTV-Asian clients of Iran oil hold firm as US issues alert

South Korea says its officials will meet US authorities to press for extension of a waiver for oil imports from Iran, while new data shows China has doubled down on purchases of Iranian crude.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with top oil executives to press them on following the Trump administration’s policy of reducing Iran’s oil exports to zero.

The outreach represented a significant new campaign to sway industry executives to Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda that seeks to advance diplomatic and policy objectives through rapidly expanding US oil and gas exports.

Bank Ansar said it has been on the list of sanctions since the US began to implement the “oppressive” measures and that the new sanctions would not affect its performance.

The bank said it considers the US Treasury sanctions in line with “desperate moves of America following its successive defeats against the noble Iranian people."

“No threat will prevent the directors and staff of Bank Ansar from serving the dear people of our country,” it added.

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