US sanctions Iranian building firms

The US treasury department today imposed sanctions against four subsidiaries and the commander of the construction arm of Iran…

The US treasury department today imposed sanctions against four subsidiaries and the commander of the construction arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The action, which extends earlier sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and its Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, bans US transactions with the newly designated firms and aims to freeze any assets they may have under US jurisdiction.

The treasury said Khatam al-Anbiya is involved in the construction of streets, highways, tunnels, pipelines and water projects and its profits help support Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as terrorist activities.

The latest treasury action represents an incremental step that builds on previous efforts to target specific firms that support Iran's nuclear development and missile technology.

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President Barack Obama yesterday said the international community was moving "fairly quickly" to impose broader sanctions on Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

Tehran said over the weekend that it would start enriching uranium to 20 per cent purity, considered a key step toward producing nuclear weapons-grade material.

The subsidiaries added to the US treasury's blacklist of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction are Fater Engineering Institute, Imensazen Consultant Engineers Institute, Makin Institute and Rahab Institute. Khatam al-Anbiya's commander, Revolutionary Guards General Rostam Qasemi, also was blacklisted.

"As the IRGC consolidates control over broad swaths of the Iranian economy, displacing ordinary Iranian businessmen in favor of a select group of insiders, it is hiding behind companies like Khatam al-Anbiya and its affiliates to maintain vital ties to the outside world," Stuart Levey, the treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

"Today's action exposing Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries will help firms worldwide avoid business that ultimately benefits the IRGC and its dangerous activities."

Reuters