U.S. Announces New Sanctions Against Iranian Companies with Ties to Nuclear and Missile Programs

On August 12, 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department designated five entities for their ties to Iran's nuclear and missile programs. According to the Treasury Department press release, the designations were made pursuant to Executive Order 13382, “which is aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, and at isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. Designations under E.O. 13382 are implemented by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and they prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person, and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction.”

The entities designated are the Nuclear Research Center for Agriculture and Medicine (a/k/a Karaj Nuclear Research Center), the Esfahan Nuclear Fuel Research and Production Center, Jabber Ibn Hayan, Safety Equipment Procurement Company and Joza Industrial Company. All five of the entities designated have also been previously designated under United Nations Security Council resolutions against Iran for its nuclear program.

According to Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey, “These five nuclear and missile entities have been used by Iran to hide its illicit conduct and further its dangerous nuclear ambitions.”