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U.S. committed to diplomatic solution: Rice

WASHINGTON: As the United States imposed sweeping new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington remained committed to “‘a diplomatic solution.”

Other officials echoed that sentiment, maintaining the announcement was not a prelude to armed conflict with Iran.

“In no way, shape or form does it anticipate the use of force,” said Nicholas Burns, the State Department’s No. 3 diplomat.

Instead, officials said they hoped the measures would increase pressure on Iran to take a deal offered last year that would give Iran economic and other incentives in exchange for dropping nuclear activities that could produce a bomb.

The sanctions target 25 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guard that play a major role in Iran’s domestic economy and international trade. These are the first of their type taken by the United States specifically against the armed forces of another government.

In addition to freezing any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions, the sanctions also barred Americans from doing business with them.

But of far greater impact, officials said, they would subject foreign firms to U.S. sanctions if they engaged with the designated entities.

State-owned banks Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat were named supporters of global terrorist groups for their activities in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. Along with Bank Sepah, which was already under U.S. and U.N. sanctions, the institutions account for more than 50 percent of Iran’s banking sector, Treasury officials said.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics were designated proliferators of ballistic missile technology. The Quds Force, a part of the Guard Corps, was named a supporter of designated terrorist organisations.

In Tehran, the Revolutionary Guard chief, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, shrugged off increased U.S. pressure on the force. “Today, enemy has concentrated sharp point of its attacks on the Guards,” Mr. Jafari told a military ceremony in Mashhad, east of Tehran, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Israel, on the other hand, said it was pleased with the sanctions. — AP

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