The U.S. Government Announces the Formation of a New Financial Entity to Monitor Iran's Activities

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that a new unit called the "Iran Financial Issues Fusion Cell" has been established under her supervision to enhance information regarding Iran and find new ways to counter Tehran. Sigal Mandelker, on March 12, mentioned in a meeting with a subcommittee of the House of Representatives that the "Iran Financial Issues Fusion Cell" is an entity within the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence created to improve activities related to Iran. The Trump administration exited the nuclear agreement formed during Barack Obama's presidency last spring, reinstated sanctions against Iran, and added new entities, organizations, and individuals to the sanctions list. The Islamic Republic government has called the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA an "illegal" act and is seeking ways to continue its trade relations with other countries. Ms. Mandelker emphasized in the meeting that the Trump administration will continue its current path of imposing "maximum pressure" on Tehran. The Deputy Assistant Secretary stated that the newly formed unit will help the Treasury Department "gain more information on Iran's destructive activities and find new ways to counter Iran and its illegal actors." This U.S. official, like other officials in her government, described the Iranian government as the "main supporter of terrorism" in the world and stated that "maximum pressure" will continue to counter "regional destabilizing activities, terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons" by the Islamic Republic. Tehran describes Washington's accusations of supporting terrorism as "baseless" and "unfounded." Tehran denies allegations of interference in regional countries' affairs and states that it is not seeking to build nuclear weapons. Sigal Mandelker mentioned in the U.S. House of Representatives that the U.S. government has "deeply engaged" with European countries to consider the "significant risk" posed by the establishment of a financial mechanism for trade with Iran. Mandelker stated that Iran has repeatedly failed to adopt international laws to combat money laundering and counter the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT): "We have clearly stated that those who engage in activities aimed at circumventing U.S. sanctions will face severe risks, including losing access to the U.S. financial system and being unable to conduct transactions with the United States." The European special financial mechanism for trade with Iran is called "INSTEX" and was created by the UK, Germany, and France, the other parties to the nuclear negotiations that remain in the JCPOA. "INSTEX" is an abbreviation for an English phrase meaning "Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges," which was established to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran. European countries conditioned the start of this mechanism on doing "more work." This mechanism has yet to be implemented. Washington has repeatedly warned about the consequences of its establishment. Sigal Mandelker, in her meeting with the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, spoke about the activities of the entity under her management. Besides Iran, she also discussed other actions of this entity regarding North Korea, the group known as the Islamic State, Russia, Venezuela, and addressing human rights violations and drug trafficking.