December 16, 2011, 4:20 PM ET
David S. Cohen, the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will travel to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Saturday, returning to the U.S. on Tuesday. Cohen will meet with senior officials in Riyadh and Manama to discuss potential financial measures targeting the Central Bank of Iran, according to a news release Friday.
Cohen’s meetings will also focus on efforts to disrupt the financial and support networks of terrorist organizations, and the implementation of U.S., EU and Arab League sanctions aimed at disrupting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The trip, Cohen’s fourth visit to the region in eight months, comes on the heels of approval by the U.S. Senate on Thursday of an annual defense authorization bill that contains a provision imposing sanctions on Iran’s central bank. Having cleared both chambers of Congress, the bill now heads to President Barack Obama, who said he intends to sign it into law despite earlier veto threats over an unrelated provision.
The bill imposes the harshest measures to date on Iran over its nuclear program, which a United Nations report said is progressing on technology that could produce a weapon. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
U.S. administration officials have been talking for the last several weeks about considering sanctions on Bank Markazi, the Iranian central bank, but have yet to squeeze the trigger out of fear it would cause a spike in oil prices, giving Tehran a windfall in oil sales.
Cohen has previously expressed support for sanctions on the Iranian central bank, but has said it should be done through multilateral means. source: WSJ
Cohen Heads To Middle East As Obama Mulls Iran Central Bank Sanctions
 |
| Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1. |
By Christopher Matthews
The U.S. Treasury Department’s point man on terrorist financing is headed back to the Middle East this weekend to discuss sanctions against Iran and Syria.David S. Cohen, the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will travel to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Saturday, returning to the U.S. on Tuesday. Cohen will meet with senior officials in Riyadh and Manama to discuss potential financial measures targeting the Central Bank of Iran, according to a news release Friday.
Cohen’s meetings will also focus on efforts to disrupt the financial and support networks of terrorist organizations, and the implementation of U.S., EU and Arab League sanctions aimed at disrupting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The trip, Cohen’s fourth visit to the region in eight months, comes on the heels of approval by the U.S. Senate on Thursday of an annual defense authorization bill that contains a provision imposing sanctions on Iran’s central bank. Having cleared both chambers of Congress, the bill now heads to President Barack Obama, who said he intends to sign it into law despite earlier veto threats over an unrelated provision.
The bill imposes the harshest measures to date on Iran over its nuclear program, which a United Nations report said is progressing on technology that could produce a weapon. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
U.S. administration officials have been talking for the last several weeks about considering sanctions on Bank Markazi, the Iranian central bank, but have yet to squeeze the trigger out of fear it would cause a spike in oil prices, giving Tehran a windfall in oil sales.
Cohen has previously expressed support for sanctions on the Iranian central bank, but has said it should be done through multilateral means. source: WSJ
