U.S. Treasury Defends Iran Sanction

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the economic sanctions against Iran will work, because “the alternatives are worse.” 



“It would be the best thing for Iran and the best thing for the world if economic sanctions worked because the alternatives are worse for Iran and for the world,” Lew said. “I don’t think any (U.S.) president should make the decision about whether or not to go beyond the sanctions without having exhausted the tools available,” he added. (AFP, 1 July)

Lew made the comments on Sunday at a conference in Aspen, Colorado. He called the sanctions the “toughest sanctions in history.”

“We have not seen the kind of slippage in international support for sanctions that some people have speculated about.” 



Photo credit: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew (Wikipedia)

Obama to Nominate Jack Lew as Next U.S. Treasury Secretary

U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate his chief of staff Jack Lew as the next Treasury Secretary on Thursday, Reuters and Haaretz reported today. Before being named Obama’s chief of staff last year, Lew served as the White House budget director.

Lew has strong relationships with U.S. congress. He is an Orthodox Jew with close working relations with Israeli envoy to the U.S. If confirmed, he will lead the department that is in charge of designing and enforcing U.S. sanctions against Iran.

File photo: White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew. (Reuters)

Iran Oil Ministry Denies NIOC-IRGC Ties

Iran's oil ministry has denied the reports that the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is linked to or under the control of the IRGC, Mehr News Agency reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, U.S. Treasury sent a report to Congress determining that the NIOC was “an agent or affiliate” of the IRGC. The Treasury, however, didn’t find sufficient proof to link the National Iranian Tanker Co., NITC, the main carrier for Iranian crude, to the Revolutionary Guards. (Bloomberg, 24 September)

“Treasury has reviewed classified reporting and unclassified information in support of these determinations,” Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control wrote to Congress. “As Iran’s most powerful economic actor, the IRGC dominates many sectors of the economy, including energy, construction, and banking,” he wrote.

“Recently, the IRGC has been coordinating a new campaign to sell Iranian oil, in order to evade international sanctions,” Szubin wrote.

Under today’s finding, any foreign financial institution “determined to knowingly facilitate significant transactions with or provide significant financial services” for NIOC, without a Treasury waiver, can be blocked from the U.S. banking system. (Reuters)