(Corrects committee name in fourth paragraph)
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – The United States will
rigorously enforce “without fear or fail” sanctions starting on
July 1 that ban governments or private companies from selling
gold to Iran, a top Treasury official said on Wednesday.
David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for
terrorism and financial intelligence, told lawmakers in
testimony there had been an increase in gold sales to Iran in
response to the sharp depreciation in Iran’s currency, the rial.
The rial has lost two-thirds of its dollar value since late
2011 as a result of Western sanctions targeting the banking
system and oil exports over Tehran’s disputed nuclear
activities, putting many Iranians under financial pressure.
“I can assure you we are looking very carefully at evidence
that anyone outside of Iran is selling gold to the government of
Iran,” Cohen told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in
testimony on Iran.
From July 1, the United States will ban the transfer of any
precious metals or gold to Iranian state and private
institutions, as well as Iranian citizens, as part of its effort
to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons but has refused,
in recent years, to halt its uranium enrichment, a process that
can produce fuel for nuclear reactors, or, ultimately, for
bombs.
Asked whether he was aware of a rise in gold sales from
Turkey to Iran, Cohen acknowledged there was “no question that
there is gold going from Turkey to Iran.”
He added that “in large measure what we see is Iranian
citizens purchasing gold as a way to protect themselves from the
decline in value of the rial.”
“In some respects this gold trade that we see that is
increasing is a reflection of the success of our sanctions in
driving down the value of the rial,” Cohen said.
He said the United States had made it clear to both
governments and the private sector that Washington will “apply
our sanctions without fear or fail” against anyone violating the
gold ban.
“I can assure you that we are looking very, very carefully
at any evidence that anyone outside of Iran is selling gold to
the government of Iran,” he added.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
