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Popular Iran Sanctions Bill Unlikely to See Passage This Year, Say Analysts
By Colby Adams
printThe U.S. Senate won't consider an Iran sanctions bill overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday until a negotiation deadline set by the Obama administration expires, say analysts. On Tuesday, the House passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act with over 400 votes, paving the way for senatorial debate on the measure, which would impose a financial blockade on the Central Bank of Iran for allegedly financing nuclear proliferation. The bill would also blacklist contractors tied to the Islamic Republic's energy sector. Lawmakers are likely to pass the bill next year, as the White House pushes for strong...
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European companies may be lining up at the gate to do business with Iran in the event of a sanctions rollback but don't expect the continent's banks to go rushing in anytime soon.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday unanimously approved a measure that would penalize foreign banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
As U.S. officials and bankers debate the merits and drawbacks of an expected $10 billion sanctions settlement with BNP Paribas, their French counterparts are offering a more unified response: outrage.
U.S. officials Tuesday charged a blacklisted Chinese national with using shell companies to maintain accounts at American banks and offered five million dollars for information on his whereabouts.
The government of Iran and banks under its influence are increasingly using investments in foreign financial institutions as a means to circumvent sanctions, including restrictions on interbank messages, say sources.
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
Recent congressional disclosures and leaked diplomatic cables highlight the difficulties the United States faces in convincing even stalwart allies to enforce economic sanctions against Iran, say analysts.
China and other U.S. trading partners continue to provide Iran with energy and banking services five months after the passage of new comprehensive sanctions against the country, lawmakers said Wednesday.
Lawmakers passed a tough new sanctions measure against Iran Thursday that would require U.S. banks to determine whether the foreign financial institutions they have correspondent relationships with bank certain Iranians.
Additional banking and trade restrictions that target the finance and supply of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs were passed by the U.N. Security Council Wednesday.
The Iran sanctions proposal under consideration at the United Nations could result in international financial institutions broadly dropping their ties to Iran's banking industry, say analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted four companies and one person tied to Iran's elite military branch Wednesday amid efforts to coalesce international support to restrict business with the Persian country.
Federal prosecutors indicted three New York men Wednesday for allegedly helping send approximately $300,000 to Iran and other countries through unregistered hawalas, a type of informal money exchange network.
Banks that financed deals with subsidiaries of a blacklisted Beijing-based weapons manufacturer are likely to face increased scrutiny from the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions enforcement arm, say analysts.
Federal investigators Thursday arrested a former consultant of a prominent New York management company for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran through the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Senate Follows House in Passing Measure Against Companies That Aid Iran
The Senate Banking Committee Thursday unanimously approved legislation that would enable the White House to impose fresh sanctions against companies that import refined petroleum to Iran.
Financial institutions and other companies that support the Islamic Republic's energy sector face new pressure under the terms of a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday.
The United Kingdom banned British financial institutions Monday from transacting business with an Iranian shipping company and one of Iran's five state-owned banks.
If talks between Iran and global powers founder, the United States will likely lobby the United Nations to blacklist at least one of two Iranian government-owned banks, say sanctions analysts.
The head of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee will soon introduce a bill to broaden sanctions against financial institutions and other businesses tied to Iran and the country's nuclear ambitions.