As Trump squeezes Iran, Europe squirms
Europe and the Donald Trump administration are increasingly at odds, as Europe tries to rescue the Iran nuclear deal and Trump tries to squeeze it into making further concessions.
WASHINGTON — The United States sanctioned Iran’s Central Bank chief today, as European foreign ministers huddled with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels to see if they could rescue the Iran nuclear deal after the US exit from it last week. The divergent actions showed the Donald Trump administration and its closest transatlantic allies at stark odds over how to handle Iran policy, an area where their previous close cooperation during the last US administration had been critical in achieving a breakthrough after over a decade of nuclear talks.
The Treasury Department designated Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Valiollah Seif and a deputy for allegedly assisting or providing financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah, both designated as terror groups by the United States.
“Seif has conspired with the IRGC-QF to move millions of dollars through the international financial system in a variety of foreign currencies to allow the IRGC-QF to fund its activities abroad,” a Treasury Department press statement announcing the designations said.
“It is appalling, but not surprising, that Iran’s senior-most banking official would conspire with the IRGC-QF to facilitate funding of terror groups like Hezbollah, and it undermines any credibility he could claim in protecting the integrity of the institution as a central bank governor,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
