The US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Turkish lender Golden Global Bank over alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as Washington seeks to isolate Tehran’s economy six months into the US and Israeli war with Iran.
The sanctions also cover the bank’s subsidiaries.
Golden Global facilitated transactions worth tens of millions of dollars for the IRGC, the Treasury Department said.
The bank and its subsidiaries also gave Tehran “key correspondent banking access” that allowed it to move funds abroad, according to the department.
The sanctions came a week after Washington moved toward cutting the United Arab Emirates operations of an Egyptian bank off from the US financial system.
“Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime,” he added.
Bessent said Tuesday that Washington would probably announce sanctions on one bank this week and another next week as part of efforts to cut Iran off from the international financial system.
He made the remarks during a Group of 20 finance officials’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, where he sought support from other countries for pressure on Iran.
The war began in late February when the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran that killed the country’s supreme leader.
Bessent recently said the United States was declaring an “economic D-Day” on Iran and warned of penalties for countries that declined to join the campaign.
©Agence France-Presse
