WASHINGTON, Sept 8, 2006 (AFP) - The US Treasury Department announced Friday that it had blacklisted one of Iran's largest banks, Bank Saderat, from having any links with US-owned banks. The move effectively cuts Iran's state-owned Bank Saderat off from conducting any business linked to the US financial system. The Treasury Department said it blacklisted Saderat because of its "support for terrorism." "Bank Saderat facilitates Iran's transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations each year," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "We will no longer allow a bank like Saderat to do business in the American financial system, even indirectly," Levey said.
According to the US Treasury, the bank is one of Iran's largest with some 3,400 branch offices. The Treasury also said the bank had transferred funds to other "terrorist organizations" including Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.