The US Treasury on Tuesday (May 15th) imposed sanctions on Central Bank of Iran governor Valiollah Seif, accusing him of helping the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) transfer millions of dollars to Lebanon's Hizbullah.
In the second move in a week taking aim at IRGC money networks, the US Treasury also blacklisted a second central bank official, as well as Iraq's Al-Bilad Islamic Bank and its top two executives, AFP reported.
The Treasury said Seif covertly moved "hundreds of millions of dollars" to Hizbullah from the IRGC via Al-Bilad Islamic Bank.
Tuesday's action sought to cut off what the US called a "critical" banking network for Iran, and deny those blacklisted access to the global financial system.
"The US will not permit Iran's increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system," said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "The global community must remain vigilant against Iran's deceptive efforts to provide financial support to its terrorist proxies."
The Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions against a "large scale" currency exchange network serving the IRGC, hitting six individuals and three companies at the centre of the network.
