IRAN/SANCTIONS/TERRORISM/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration designated the head of Iran’s central bank as a global terrorist on Tuesday [5-15-18] for funneling money to Hezbollah, placing further financial constraints on the nation a week after President Trump called for reimposing sanctions that were lifted as part of an Obama-era deal. The new designation is separate from the nuclear sanctions that were reinstated last week against Iran. But after Mr. Trump announced his decision to back out of the nuclear deal, he promised to sanction any firm — including banks — that does business with Iran. Last week, the United States Treasury Department, in coordination with the United Arab Emirates, sought to disrupt an Iranian currency exchange network that worked with Iran’s central bank to transfer money to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to help fund the terrorist group Hezbollah. The Treasury Department said Tuesday’s actions were a continuation of that effort. It is rare to place a governor of a central bank on the global terrorist list. The Treasury Department said the governor of Iran’s central bank, Valiollah Seif, ‘covertly funneled millions of dollars’ from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps through Iraq’s al-Bilad Islamic Bank in support of Hezbollah.”
-Eileen Sullivan, “U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on Iran, Designating Head of Central Bank a Terrorist,” The New York Times online, May 15, 2018