EU/IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States escalated its financial pressure on Iran Tuesday [5-15-18] by slapping terror sanctions on the head of its central bank and barring anyone around the world from doing business with him, underscoring President Donald Trump’s hard line after his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear accord upset European allies. Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Iranian central bank, was named a ‘specially designated global terrorist’ along with another senior official, Ali Tarzali, who works in the central bank’s international division. The Treasury Department accused the men of secretly funneling millions of dollars through an Iraqi bank to help Hezbollah, the militant network that the U.S. considers a terrorist group. Although the sanctions do not technically extend to the central bank itself, they could significantly increase Iran’s isolation from the global financial system. Seif, whose role is equivalent to the Federal Reserve chairman in the U.S., oversees major financial decisions in Iran. Any transactions that involve his signature could potentially run afoul of the sanctions, creating a strong deterrent to foreign governments or businesses considering transactions involving Iran’s central bank.”
-Josh Lederman, “US hits head of Iran’s central bank with terror sanctions,” The Associated Press, May 15, 2018