Under Secretary stuart Levey and Assistant Secretary David Cohen Continue Treasury's Global Engagement on Iran
By Marti Adams, Spokesperson for Illicit Finance and Enforcement - TFI and OFAC
MARTI ADAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
January 14, 2011
This week, senior Treasury officials traveled to six countries in four days for meetings with senior government officials and private sector leaders on the implementation of sanctions against Iran.
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey was joined by the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary, Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Bob Cekuta in Luxembourg, Paris, London and Rome, and Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing David Cohen traveled to Berlin and Prague.
In each country, Under Secretary Levey and Assistant Secretary Cohen consulted with our partners on the progress of efforts to hold Iran accountable and urged continued vigilance and vigorous implementation of sanctions to maintain and increase their impact. Early next week, Under Secretary Levey and Assistant Secretary Cohen will travel to Tel Aviv; Daniel Glaser, Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, will make stops in Tirana, Albania and Kiev, Ukraine for similar meetings.
Because of Iran's failure to live up to its international obligations, the Administration has developed a sanctions strategy using targeted financial pressure to sharpen the choice for Iran’s leadership and create the leverage needed for our diplomacy to be effective. Seven months after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 and additional sanctions from the US, EU, Japan, South Korea and others, we are seeing that sanctions are having an impact on Iran. We know that Iran’s inability to access the international financial system and attract foreign investment to develop its oil and gas fields is causing its leadership great concern.
Later this month, the U.S. will join the other permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, and the UK) plus Germany, in Istanbul for talks with Iran. Until Iran agrees to abide by its international obligations, its isolation from the international community will continue and the pressure on Iran will increase.