Trump administration tightens Iran
sanctions, Tehran hits back
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[February 04, 2017]
By Yeganeh Torbati
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump
administration on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran, which it said were
just "initial steps" and said Washington would no longer turn a "blind
eye" to Iran's hostile actions.
The sanctions on 25 individuals and entities were the opening salvo by
President Donald Trump who has vowed a more aggressive policy against
Tehran and came two days after the administration had put Iran 'on
notice' following a ballistic missile test.
"The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations
that threaten our interests," National Security Advisor Michael Flynn
said.
"The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent
actions toward the United States and the world community are over,"
Flynn said in a White House statement.
Suggesting that more concrete action could follow if Iran does not curb
its ballistic missile program and continues support in regional proxy
conflicts, a senior administration official said the latest sanctions
were the initial steps in response to Iran's "provocative behavior".
The administration was "undertaking a larger strategic review" of how it
responds to Iran.
Iran denounced the sanctions as illegal and said it would impose legal
restrictions on American individuals and entities helping "regional
terrorist groups", state TV quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as
saying.
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Those affected under the sanctions cannot access the U.S. financial
system or deal with U.S. companies and are subject to secondary
sanctions, meaning foreign companies and individuals are prohibited from
dealing with them or risk being blacklisted by the United States.
NUCLEAR DEAL
The White House said that while the sanctions were a reaction to recent
events, they had been under consideration before. It added that a
landmark 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear program was not in the best
interest of the United States.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile test did not violate
the nuclear agreement.
"It's not a direct violation ... I think there is no question that it
violates the spirit of that," Spicer said in an interview with MSNBC. He
said the nuclear agreement was a "sweetheart deal" for Iran.
Citing a foreign ministry statement, Iran's semi-official Fars news
agency said the missile program is "the undeniable and inalienable right
of our nation under international law and the UN charter. Any foreign
interference in this regard is a violation of international law."
The new designations stuck to areas that remain under sanctions even
with the 2015 nuclear deal sealed between Iran and world powers in
place, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite military
body that is powerful in Iranian politics and the economy, and Iran's
ballistic missile program. Zarif led Iran's delegation at the nuclear
negotiations in 2015.
Among those affected by the sanctions were what it said was a
Lebanon-based network run by the Revolutionary Guards.
"The list is actually so targeted and comparatively mild, it leads one
to surmise that it may have been a set of targets devised by the Obama
administration, and was ready to go when Trump came into office," said
Adam Smith, former senior advisor to the Director of the U.S. Treasury
Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
"As such, the real test for which way the Trump team will go on Iran may
well be not this list release but the next one, whenever that occurs,"
Smith said.
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![](../images/020417pics/news_r31.jpg)
White House spokesman Sean Spicer holds a press briefing at the
White House in Washington, U.S., February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin
Lamarque
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The sanctions' impact will be more symbolic than practical, especially
as they do not affect the lifting of broader U.S. and international
sanctions that took place under the nuclear deal.
Also, few of the Iranian entities being targeted are likely to have
U.S. assets that can be frozen, and U.S. companies, with few
exceptions, are barred from doing business with Iran.
Meanwhile, the U.S. moved a Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, close to
the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways
from Houthi militia aligned with Iran.
DESIGNATIONS
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Friday expressed
understanding over the sanctions, but warned against conflating
Sunday's test with the nuclear deal.
Earlier on Friday, Trump tweeted: "Iran is playing with fire". U.S.
Senator Mark Warner expressed support for the sanctions, adding:
"I urge the Administration to bring clarity to their overall
strategy towards Iran, and to refrain from ambiguous rhetoric – or
provocative tweets – that will exacerbate efforts to confront those
challenges.”
Some of the entities sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury are based in
the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and China.
Among those affected were companies, individuals and brokers the
U.S. Treasury said support a trade network run by Iranian
businessman Abdollah Asgharzadeh.
Treasury said he supported Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, which the
United States has said is a subsidiary of an Iranian entity that
runs Iran's ballistic missile program.
Hasan Dehghan Ebrahimi, a Beirut-based official with the
Revolutionary Guard's Qods Force, which runs its operations abroad,
was put under sanctions for acting on behalf of the Qods Force,
Treasury said.
Three Lebanese companies involved in waste collection,
pharmaceuticals, and construction were also listed under the
sanctions for being owned or controlled by Muhammad Abd-al-Amir
Farhat, one of Ebrahimi's employees.
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Treasury said he has facilitated millions of dollars in cash
transfers to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Two of his employees
and a company he manages were also sanctioned. Treasury said
Ebrahimi and his employees used a Lebanon-based network to transfer
funds, launder money, and conduct business.
(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara and Roberta Rampton
in Washington; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Lesley Wroughton; Editing
by James Dalgleish)
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