U.S. adds new Iranian targets to sanctions list

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The Obama administration on Wednesday expanded sanctions against Iran, adding four subsidiaries and a person all connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard to the list of those facing business limitations.

The move comes as Iran has signaled it is stepping up its nuclear program and President Obama said this week that the United States was considering more sanctions as a way of forcing the Islamic Republic to give up its nuclear ambitions.

At a news conference, Obama said the United States was hopeful that Russia and China would go along.

Wednesday’s action by the Treasury Department is more limited, an extension of existing sanctions, and is directed against the Revolutionary Guard and its Khatam Al Anbiya Construction Headquarters, already under sanction. According to Treasury, Khatam Al Anbiya builds highways, pipelines and water projects, and its profit helps support Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The sanctions bar U.S. transactions and aim to freeze any assets the companies have under U.S. jurisdiction, Treasury said.

The four subsidiaries are Fater Engineering Institute, Imensazen Consultant Engineers Institute, Makin Institute and Rahab Institute. Treasury also invoked the sanction against Gen. Rostam Qasemi, identified as the commander of Khatam Al Anbiya.

As the guard “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,’ Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said in a statement.

-- Michael Muskal
twitter.com/LATimesmuskal