Treasury affirms dangers of business with Iran

United States Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today in announcing new U.S. sanctions against Iran in response to Iran’s continued support of global terrorist organizations and its refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons program.  Today’s actions include the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force ancillary wing, as terrorist organizations, and the designation of three Iranian state-owned banks for involvement in proliferation activities and terrorist financing.  The IRGC is embedded throughout the Iranian economy, with revenue-generating operations in auto manufacturing, transportation, construction and oil.  

In his comments, Secretary Paulson noted: "In dealing with Iran, it is nearly impossible to know one’s customer and be assured that one is not unwittingly facilitating the regime’s reckless conduct.  The recent warning by the Financial Action Task Force, the world’s premier standard-setting body for countering terrorist financing and money laundering, confirms the extraordinary risks that accompany doing business with Iran." 

Paulson went on to state: "The IRGC is so deeply entrenched in Iran’s economy and commercial enterprises, it is increasingly likely that, if you are doing business with Iran, you are doing business with the IRGC.  We call on responsible banks and companies around the world to terminate any business with Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, Bank Saderat, and all companies and entities of the IRGC" (emphasis added). 

Secretary Paulson’s comments underscore one of the central tenets of the Center for Security Policy’s Divest Terror initiative: the need to strike a powerful blow against Iran, and other terror-sponsoring regimes, by denying them access to the revenue that keeps them in power and enables them to threaten global security.  As the Divest Terror initiative makes clear, all Americans can play an important role in this fight by insisting that their public and private pension plans, college endowments, individual retirement account managers, 401(k) plans, and other investment vehicles are divested of any publicly traded companies that do business with regimes that sponsor terror. 

The Center for Security Policy strongly encourages the American investment community, and all American citizens, to take note of Secretary Paulson’s remarks and to join the War for the Free World by ensuring that they are not "doing business with Iran" or other terror-sponsors through banks and companies that do business with these regimes.