Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen issued the following statement today:
“The United States welcomes today’s action by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to terminate services for designated Iranian banks, which we understand includes the Central Bank of Iran. We commend the EU for directing that no specialized financial messaging services can be provided by any entity in the EU for sanctioned Iranian entities and for the prompt response by the Belgian Treasury and SWIFT to the EU’s action.
“Today’s decision reflects the growing international consensus that substantially increased pressure is needed to convince the Iranian regime to address the international community’s concerns about its illicit nuclear activities. Taken in the context of increasingly powerful sanctions applied by the United States, the EU, and many others in the international community, today’s action reinforces the isolation of designated Iranian banks from the international financial sector.
“The United States will continue to work closely with our European and other partners in the international community to increase further the pressure on Iran and to strengthen the impact of our sanctions.”
