WASHINGTON - The United States is expected to announce sanctions against Bank Sepah, a major Iranian commercial bank, under a presidential order aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, several US officials and diplomats said on Monday.Bank Sepah, established in 1925, is IranÂ’s oldest bank. It has a large network of branches in Iran as well as offices in Paris, Frankfurt and Rome, and London. Its Bank Sepah International Plc subsidiary in the United Kingdom specializes in providing finance and services for international trade with a focus on Iran and the Gulf region, according to its Web site.
US officials say the parent bank facilitates acquisitions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program. “The Americans think they have enough proof” of this activity to take action, said one European diplomat.
The administration has talked to Britain and other European countries about taking similar action against Bank Sepah, European diplomats said. But the British argue that their legal system is more restrictive and does not allow for quick action. However, the British are examining what they might do, a European diplomat said.
The US sanctions are expected to be invoked under Executive Order 13382, which Bush signed in June 2005 so the United States would have another tool to combat the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles that deliver them. It authorizes the imposition of strong financial sanctions against not only proliferators of weapons of mass destruction but also individuals and companies providing support for them.
In September, Levey announced measures to cut off one of IranÂ’s main state-owned banks, Saderat, from dealings with the US financial system, accusing the Iranian government of using the bank to transfer money to terrorist organizations. Using different authority than that expected to be cited in the Bank Sepah case, he charged Saderat, with 3,400 branch offices, was transferring money to Hizbollah and Hamas as well as other groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad.