[New York Times] Helene Cooper and Steven R. Weisman - In a tacit acknowledgment that sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council in December are too weak to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, the U.S. and its allies in Europe have embarked on a new strategy to increase the financial and psychological pressure. The plan is to use the language of the resolution to help persuade foreign governments and financial institutions to cut ties with Iranian businesses, individuals in its nuclear and missile programs, and, by extension, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Stuart Levey, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Bush administration officials said envoys would soon head abroad to press officials of foreign governments and banks to interpret the Security Council resolution aggressively. It is hard to assess how deeply the financial actions may cut, since the most willing parties to the effort - the U.S. and Europe - have few business dealings with Iran.
2007-01-03 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive