White House Targets Iran, Syria Sanctions Evaders

WSJ - The U.S. Treasury Department now has the power to designate individuals and entities violating sanctions on Iran and Syria who were previously outside the U.S. enforcement regime.

An executive order signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama grants the Treasury Department the authority to bar the identified individuals and entities from the U.S. financial and commercial systems.

“Whoever tries to evade our sanctions does so at the expense of the people of Syria and Iran, and they will be held accountable,” said David S. Cohen, undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.

The order gives Treasury another way to get at those violating U.S. sanctions in a way existing authority could have theoretically reached, but would be difficult to execute against, a senior Treasury official said during a conference call to discuss the new measures.

Under the order, Treasury can bar Americans from giving or receiving goods, services or technology from a designated individual or entity. It will not, however, freeze the assets of those designated under the sanctions, the senior Treasury official said.

The action will also help prevent Americans from unwittingly engaging in actions that breach U.S. sanctions on Iran or Syria, according to a fact sheet issued by the Treasury Department.

“With today’s action, those that are or are considering to help Iran or Syria are put on notice that the U.S. has a new tool at its disposal,” said a senior Treasury official.

Treasury has already designated more than 400 Iran-related individuals and entities for sanctions, and frozen the Iranian government and its central bank out of the U.S. financial system, the fact sheet said. Similarly, it has frozen out the Syrian government, several Syrian financial institutions and top regime officials, more than 60 entities over all.

In a letter to the speaker of the house, Obama wrote that efforts by foreigners to engage in activity intended to evade sanctions “undermine our efforts” to address the situations in Iran and Syria.

No one was designated Tuesday under the executive order. “That will come in due course,” said a senior Treasury official, as the U.S. continues to enforce its sanctions regime against Iran and Syria.