Israel Matzav

Obama signs defense authorization bill that includes sanctions against Iranian central bank

In 2-6 months, we may finally get to see whether real sanctions can have an impact on Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. It's long overdue. President Obama has thrown in the towel and signed a defense authorization bill that includes tougher sanctions than before against countries and institutions that deal with Iran's central bank.

The sanctions target both private and government-controlled banks - including central banks - and would take hold after a 60- to 180-day warning period, depending on the transactions, a senior Obama administration official said.

Under the law, the president can move to exempt institutions in a country that has significantly reduced its dealings with Iran and in situations where a waiver is in the US national security interest or otherwise necessary for energy market stability. He would need to notify Congress and waivers would be temporary, but could be extended.

Sanctioned institutions would be frozen out of US financial markets.

"Our intent is to implement this law in a timed and phased approach so that we avoid repercussions to the oil market and ensure that this damages Iran and not the rest of the world," the senior US official told Reuters. "The idea here is to reduce Iran's oil revenues."

It's an election year. How many countries and institutions do you think Obama will want to exempt?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian central bank

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:59 PM