Sputnik - The US announced the re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran that were previously lifted under the JCPOA on 5 November. Prior to this date, Washington had warned the Belgium-based organization working with interbank transactions that it would also fall under sanctions if it continued to work with Iranian banks.




Deputy Secretary of�the US Treasury Sigal Mandelker announced that SWIFT had cut-off Iranian financial institutions targeted by�the US sanctions.�The Iranian central bank is among�the entities that lost their connection to�SWIFT.�The US Treasury official stressed that Washington would be strictly enforcing its sanctions regime against�Tehran and announced that there would be "a lot more from�the US on�Iran."

Mandelker noted that Washington is not concerned by�the idea of�the creation of�a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) in�the EU to�work with�Iran, expressing confidence that the US and Europe could still work together.�The official noted that despite�the idea of�an SPV, "companies already are leaving Iran."
"I am not concerned by�the SPV actually at�all. I think the bigger news in�Europe is that companies are withdrawing from�Iran in�droves," she said.


SWIFT, a global messaging network designed for�organizing financial communications between�banks, earlier�announced�that it would sever its links to�several Iranian banks and institutions for�the sake of�the overall stability of�the network. The organization didn't say directly that it was cutting off�Iranian banks subject to�the new US sanctions.

The announcement by�the financial messaging network came on�the same day as�US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of�State Mike Pompeo announced the imposition of�sanctions against�the Iranian banking, energy and shipping spheres. Several days prior to�the announcement, Mnuchin warned that SWIFT is no different than�any other entity and could therefore also fall under�secondary sanctions if it were to�continue to�work with�Iranian banks.