Washington targets Iran's automotive, rail, manufacturing, and steel sectors - Sarmad
(KUNA) – The United States announced the targeting of Iran’s automotive, railway, manufacturing, and steel sectors, as well as a “parallel” banking network, as part of the “Economic Outcast” operation launched by Washington on August 24 to cut off the economic lifelines of Tehran.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated in a press release that the new measures taken on Thursday “target some of the last critical elements of Iran’s struggling industrial infrastructure, including conglomerates operating in the railway and automotive sectors.”
The ministry added that, “just like the oil sector, Iran’s automotive and railway industries have come under the control of the regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Corruption and self-interest within these two entities have pushed the Iranian economy to the brink of collapse.”
It noted that “with the increasing effectiveness of the U.S. Navy’s maritime blockade and Iranian oil revenues dropping to zero, the regime has become increasingly reliant on these remaining industries to maintain a facade of economic solvency.”
It clarified that “since the railway and automotive sectors represent some of the regime’s largest remaining sources of revenue and logistical capabilities, today’s measures deliver a direct blow to the vital arteries upon which Iran depends to sustain its economy and circumvent sanctions.”
It emphasized that “the automotive sector, in particular, is closely linked to patronage networks affiliated with the IRGC, facilitating corruption, trade-based money laundering, and even the exploitation of prison labor, making the dismantling of these channels essential to cutting off funding sources for the IRGC.”
It pointed out that “by targeting Iranian companies, as well as foreign suppliers and intermediaries that feed them, the designation decisions issued today disrupt the international procurement networks the regime relies on to maintain its industrial base and circumvent U.S. pressure.”
It reported that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two additional orders as part of today’s measures, imposing sectoral sanctions targeting Iran’s automotive and railway sectors.
It stated that these two orders grant OFAC “the authority to impose sanctions on any entity or individual operating in the aforementioned sectors. Consequently, the designations taken today are implemented under Executive Orders 13902 and 13871, which target key Iranian industrial sectors, including iron, steel, aluminum, and copper.”
For his part, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a statement included in the release, affirmed that “the Iranian regime’s ability to fund its war machine and spread terror around the world has been significantly diminished thanks to the ‘Economic Outcast’ operation,” adding that today’s measures “directly target entities that enable Iran and pave the way for the United States and our partners to ultimately drain the regime’s revenues.”
In a separate statement, the U.S. Treasury Department revealed that it had taken “unprecedented measures” against the “A7” network, which it described as “a parallel banking network with ties to Russia used by the Iranian regime to circumvent sanctions.”
She clarified that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) “proposed a rule prohibiting the transfer of funds related to transactions involving sub-agents” to the aforementioned network, in addition to issuing “an advisory to help financial institutions monitor suspicious activities” linked to the network, while simultaneously imposing sanctions on it by OFAC “as a significant transnational criminal organization.” In this regard, Bisanti stated that today’s action targeting the (A7) network “continues the Department’s unprecedented efforts to isolate Iran and entities that facilitate its financial operations, and sends a clear message that anyone who facilitates the illegal financing of America’s adversaries will lose access to the U.S. financial system.”
