| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| U.S. Treasury to impose sanctions on Iranian Bank |
| 2011-02-20 |
| The U.S. Department of Treasury designated Iranian Bank Refah for providing financial services to the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA), the Treasurys official statement says. Treasury has now exposed and sanctioned 20 banks owned by the Government of Iran for supporting Iran's nuclear and missile programs or terrorism, said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. The pervasiveness of this illicit conduct explains why legitimate financial institutions everywhere are deciding to shun Iranian banks. According to the statement, in recent years, Bank Refah has facilitated millions of dollars of weapons-related purchases by MODAFL. These purchases included missiles and tanks and enabled Irans leadership to maintain its fighter jets and submarines. Bank Refah also facilitated payments from HESA to businesses and individuals linked to Irans weapons-related procurement. |
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| Afghanistan | ||
| US targets financial, support networks of al-Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani | ||
| 2011-02-10 | ||
(KUNA) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury targeted Wednesday the financial and support networks of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the Haqqani Network Leadership.
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| Africa Subsaharan |
| U.S. Sanctions 'Two of Hizbullah's Top Financiers in Africa' |
| 2010-12-11 |
| [An Nahar] The U.S. Treasury Department has said it sanctioned two brothers and their business interests for allegedly doing fundraising for Hizbullah. Ali Tajideen and Husayn Tajideen, brothers who served as business partners for the previously sanctioned Kassim Tajideen, were targeted along with their business interests in The Gambia, Leb, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and the British Virgin Islands. Ali is a former Hizbullah commander in Hanouay, Tyre, Leb, and has provided cash to Hizbullah, in tranches as large as $1 million, the Treasury said. Husayn operated primarily in The Gambia. "Today's designation targets two of Hizbullah's top financiers in Africa," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Ali and Husayn Tajideen's multinational network generates millions of dollars in funding and secures strategic geographical strongholds for Hizbullah," he added. |
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US Treasury designates corporate structures affiliated with Iran entities |
| 2010-12-01 |
(KUNA) -- The US Department of the Treasury announced here Tuesday the designations of five corporate officers and 10 businesses affiliated with either the Islamic Theocratic Republicof Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) or Bank Mellat, two entities previously designated by Treasury for supporting Iran's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and carrying military cargoes. The Treasury indicated that firms designated today were Pearl Energy Company, a Malaysian-based entity owned by a subsidiary of Bank Mellat, its Director Ali Afzali, as well as Pearl Energy Services, SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pearl Energy Company. Treasury also designated four top IRISL executives; and eight IRISL front companies located on the Isle of Man. "Today's designations were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets for sanctions proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters, thereby isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems," the Treasury stressed. In this regard, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said in a statement "as long as Iran uses front companies, cut-outs and other forms of deception to hide its illicit activities, we intend to expose this conduct and thereby counteract Iran's attempts to evade US and international sanctions." He added that "today's actions will help governments, banks and other private companies around the world ensure that they do not inadvertently facilitate Iran's proliferation and support for terrorism." Including today's action, Treasury has designated nearly 80 IRISL front companies and affiliates and has identified more than 100 ships as being the property of IRISL or its front companies and affiliates. |
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| Home Front: WoT |
| LeT charity designated terror group by Treasury |
| 2010-11-25 |
| A charitable front for Lashkar-e-Taiba and three of their senior leaders have been targeted by the Treasury Department as global terrorists. The Treasury added the Falah-i Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as a terrorist organization, and FIF leader Hafiz Abdur Rauf, Mian Abdullah and Mohammad Naushad Alam Khan, to the list of designated global terrorists. This designation allows the US to freeze their assets and prevent them from using financial institutions, and prosecute them for terrorist activities. "Few individuals are more integral to LET's fundraising than Hafiz Abdur Rauf and Mian Abdullah," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. The designations took place twenty days after the Treasury sanctioned Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders Azam Cheema, a top commander in the planning of the Mumabi assault, and Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, a politican. Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader, Maulana Massod Azhar, were designated as terrorist organizations at the same time. Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, designated by the US and the UN as a terrorist, remains free in Pakistan despite open support of jihad in India and Pakistan, and regardless of LeT's involvement in the Mumbai attack as well as others. Pakistani Army corps commanders openly associate with Saeed. |
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| India-Pakistan |
| US sanctions terror groups in Mumbai attacks |
| 2010-11-05 |
| [Emirates 24/7] The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on two Pakistain-based terrorist organisations and a key leader of recent attacks in Mumbai. The Treasury Department said it targeted the financial and support networks of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM). It also took action against Azam Cheema, saying he had helped train operatives for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and was the "criminal mastermind'>criminal criminal mastermind" behind the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings carried out by LeT. The targets also included leaders of LeT and JeM, as well as Al Rehmat Trust, an "operational front" for JeM, the department said in a statement. LeT, with links to Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda network, already was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001, the department noted. "Today's action -- including the designation of Azam Cheema, one of LeT's leading commanders who was involved in the 2008 and 2006 Mumbai attacks -- is an important step in incapacitating the operational and financial networks of these deadly organizations," Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement. The sanctions ban all transactions with US citizens and companies and freezes any of the targets' assets under US jurisdiction. In July 2006, a series of coordinated bombings of trains in Mumbai, India's financial capital, killed nearly 200 people. A November 2008 attack at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai claimed 31 lives. |
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US slaps sanctions on 37 Iranian firms |
| 2010-10-28 |
[Iran Press TV] The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on 37 Iranian "front companies" based in Germany, Malta and Cyprus which are allegedly owned or controlled by the Islamic Theocratic Republicof Iran Shipping Lines (IRSL), and the five Iranians are managers or directors of the firms. "We will continue to expose the elaborate structures and tactics Iran uses to shield its shipping line from international scrutiny," AFP quoted US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey as saying. The new measures ban transactions between the companies and individuals in question and US citizens. Last month the US imposed financial and travel sanctions on eight senior Iranian officials, including Commander of the Islamic theocracy Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohammad-Ali Jafari and Deputy Police Chief Brigadier-General Ahmad Reza Radan, accusing them of human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... abuse during the post-election unrest in Iran in 2009. The UN Security Council adopted the fourth round of sanctions against Tehran in June under intense US pressure, which claims Iran's nuclear program may have potential military applications. Shortly after the UN sanctions, the US imposed fresh unilateral sanctions on Iran's financial and energy sectors, encouraging other countries to abandon investment in the Iranian market. The US then pressured Japan, Canada, and Australia to impose similar unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Theocratic Republic, targeting investments in energy-related industries. Iran says that as a member of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has a right to use the peaceful applications of nuclear energy for electricity generation and medical research. While the US possesses and has used nuclear weapons in the past, Washington, in a politically-motivated move, has imposed additional sanctions against the Islamic Theocratic Republic, which does not possess nuclear weapons nor does it seek to develop such weapons. Regarding the ineffectiveness of sanctions, Iranian officials maintain that having numerous neighbors and a diverse range of trade partners gives the country a special economic obscurity. The total value of the Islamic Theocratic Republic's exports reached USD 14.448 billion which indicated a 23 percent increase compare with last year. |
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| Home Front: WoT |
| US sanctions target bin Laden's son-in-law |
| 2010-08-25 |
| [Al Arabiya] The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the son-in-law of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, saying he was a potential chief financial officer of the terror network. The U.S. Treasury said it had blacklisted Muhammad Abdallah Hasan Abu-al-Khayr, now a key leader of al-Qaeda's finance section, and froze any of his U.S. assets and prohibited those in the United States from engaging in any transactions with him. Al-Khayr, could succeed the terror mastermind's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who was recently killed in Pakistan apparently in a U.S. drone strike, the Treasury said in a statement. "After the death in May of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who essentially served as al-Qaeda's chief financial officer, we will continue to work with our allies to target those like al-Khayr who could step into al-Yazid's shoes," said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. "Today's designation by the United States and the United Nations will help to ensure that al-Qaeda remains in severe financial straits," Stuart Levey, Levey said, referring to similar action by a U.N. sanctions committee. The Treasury Department action freezes any assets al-Khayr has under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in any transactions with him. Al-Khayr "has transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars for a specific terrorist attack against U.S. interests," the department said in the statement. "His relationship with al-Qaeda began with military training the terrorist group provided for him in the mid-1990s," the statement added. "Al-Khayr is a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and has also provided services to bin Laden as a bodyguard." Al-Khayr appeared on a 2009 list of 85 persons wanted by Saudi Arabia, in part because of his role as an al-Qaeda money man. He has allegedly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars "for a specific terrorist attack against U.S. interests." Al-Khayr also acted for al-Qaeda in a leadership role on its media committee, and has on at least one occasion recruited a member for al-Qaeda, the statement said. |
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| India-Pakistan | |
| US declares Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami a terrorist group | |
| 2010-08-07 | |
[Dawn] The United States and the United Nations on Friday designated Pakistan's Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" and targeted its commander for supporting acts of terrorism, the US Treasury Department said.
As the militant group's leader, US officials said 46-year-old Kashmiri "provides support to Al-Qaeda operations, including logistical support for Al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks," the Treasury Department said in detailing deadly assaults on Pakistani government personnel and facilities. "In acting together, the United States and United Nations are today taking another important step in combating the threat that Al-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations pose to innocent people around the world," said Stuart Levey, the US under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. HUJI's area of operation, said the Treasury Department, extends "throughout South Asia," but the arena for its terrorist activity remains mainly in India and Pakistan. It also provided fighters to the Taliban fighting international forces in Afghanistan, and members of HUJI have trained in Al-Qaeda camps, said officials. Among the attacks listed by the Treasury was a March 2006 suicide bombing on the US consulate in Karachi that killed four people, and injured 48 others. Kashmiri was also accused of involvement in an attack on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark, following uproar over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. David Coleman Headley, the Chicago man accused of scouting for the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege and a plot to kill a Danish cartoonist, worked with HUJI on the Danish plot, according to charges unveiled in March. | |
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| Arabia |
| US-born cleric added to terror blacklist |
| 2010-07-18 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The Obama administration added a U.S.-born, al-Qaeda-linked cleric to a terrorism blacklist Friday, targeting him with sanctions aimed at cutting off his financial support. The U.S. Treasury said it blacklisted Anwar al-Awlaki as a "specially designated global terrorist", a move under an executive order that freezes any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction. "Anwar al-Awlaki has proven that he is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. "He has involved himself in every aspect of the supply chain of terrorism -- fundraising for terrorist groups, recruiting and training operatives, and planning and ordering attacks on innocents." Awlaki, now based in Yemen, rose to prominence last year after it emerged he had communicated by email with Major Nidal Hasan, a U.S. army psychiatrist accused of opening fire on colleagues at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13. The Treasury said in a statement that al-Awlaki has pledged an oath of loyalty to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and has recruited individuals to join the group. He also has facilitated training at camps in Yemen to support acts of terrorism and "helped focus AQAP's attention on planning attacks on U.S. interests," the statement said. The Treasury said New Mexico-born al-Awlaki provided instructions to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25. After receiving instructions, Abdulmutallab obtained the explosive device he used in the failed attack, the Treasury said. A U.S. official said in April that President Barack Obama's administration had authorized the targeted killing of Awlaki, after American intelligence agencies concluded the cleric was directly involved in anti-U.S. plots. Awlaki was imprisoned in Yemen in 2006 on charges of kidnapping for ransom and being involved in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a US official but was released from jail in December 2007 and subsequently went into hiding in Yemen. "Awlaki has sought to encourage his supporters to provide money for terrorist causes," Levey pointed out. "Those who provide material support to Awlaki or AQAP violate sanctions and expose themselves to serious consequences." Members of al-Awlaki's tribe in Yemen have denied he is connected to al-Qaida despite a video posting calling for the killing of Americans. In the 45-minute video, al-Awlaki said U.S. deaths are justified and encouraged, citing what he said was U.S. intentional killing of a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. |
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US will impose fresh sanctions on Tehran |
| 2010-06-17 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The U.S. government will impose new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program that will target "individuals and institutions," a senior State Department official said Wednesday. The official told reporters on the condition of anonymity he was aware the U.S. Treasury Department was to announce new financial restrictions on Iran and that "they will be focused on individuals and institutions." He said the formal announcement will be made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the treasury's undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey and the State Department's special advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, Robert Einhorn. The official gave no other details but President Barack Obama's administration had promised to take further steps of its own after the UN Security Council last week slapped new military and financial sanctions on Tehran. European Union foreign ministers meanwhile on Monday proposed new sanctions going further than UN restrictions, in a bid to pressure Iran over its nuclear program. The measures, which also cover the oil and gas industry, with transport and banking or insurance curbs, will now go forward to an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday for final approval. The foreign ministers who met in Luxembourg said the EU would seek to prohibit new investment as well as the transfers of technologies, equipment and services. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes, but Israel and Western powers fear it may be trying to develop nuclear weapons that would tip the balance of power in the Middle East. |
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran Sanctions Yield Little |
| 2010-04-05 |
| Not supposed to. Euros have too much business with Iran to let sanctions get in the way. Ditto Russia. In its latest proposed set of tougher United Nations sanctions on Iran, the U.S. is again relying on asset freezes as one tool to pressure the country not to build nuclear weapons. But a close look at how much Iranian money has been frozen to date in the U.S. under existing sanctions shows that the total amount is surprisingly small, less than $43 million, or roughly a quarter of what Iran earns in oil revenue in a single day. Other countries also haven't frozen very much, despite freezes implemented by the European Union and the U.N., interviews show. Switzerland, for example, has frozen only about $1.4 million in Iranian assets--a tiny fraction of the $712 million Swiss companies exported to Iran last year. "It's peanuts," says Jeremy P. Carver, a British attorney who has advised governments on implementing sanctions. "It's not going to really change a thing." U.S. officials do not dispute that current amounts of frozen Iranian assets seem small. In some cases, Iran has shifted the money outside the U.S. or EU to avoid sanctions. The officials emphasize that their strategy is not to seize many assets, but to pressure Iran to change its ways by making it extremely difficult for it to do business. "The strategy is not to freeze as many assets as we can," says Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department official who has headed the U.S. sanctions initiative during both the Obama and Bush administrations. "That alone, without the full range of measures we can bring to bear, would be a failing strategy." |
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