US Freezes Iraninan Government, Central Bank Assets

President Obama has ordered a freeze on the assets of Iran’s government and central bank held in US banks and offshore branches of US banks. In a statement to Congress, the President said:

I have determined that additional sanctions are warranted, particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies in Iran’s anti-money laundering regime and the weaknesses in its implementation, and the continuing and unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran’s activities.

There has been no response from Iran yet.