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| Central Bank of Iran [PHOTO: Orijentolog/CC BY-SA 3.0] |
By RFE/RL
Washington: The United States has enacted tough new sanctions to further squeeze Iran's
access to oil revenues and punish entities linked to alleged government
censorship.
A U.S. Treasury Department statement says the move expands the scope of
sanctionable transactions with the Central Bank of Iran and other financial
institutions by restricting Tehran's ability to use oil revenue held in foreign
financial institutions and preventing repatriation of those funds.
Iran uses its oil money to fund its nuclear program, which the West says is
aimed at achieving weapons capability.
Iran's Denial
The Treasury also froze the funds of and prohibited U.S. transactions with
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and its director, Ezzatollah
Zarghami; Iran's cyberpolice; its
Communications Regulatory Authority; and Iran Electronics Industries -- all of
whom allegedly facilitate the government's censorship activities.
Copyright (c) 2013.
RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.