U.S. & World News

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The United States announced Thursday that it is imposing sweeping new sanctions against Iran's defense ministry, its Revolutionary Guard Corps and a number of banks to punish them for purported support of terrorist organizations in Iraq and the Middle East, missile sales and nuclear activities.

The measures, announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, will cover some of the Iranian government's largest military and financial institutions, which Washington blames for supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and Shia insurgent groups in Iraq, along with the Hamas and Hezbollah organizations, they said.

Also designated were several Iranian individuals and organizations. Secretary Rice said that any assets that these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction would be immediately frozen.

"They will provide a powerful deterrent to any international bank or company who thinks of doing business with the Iranian government, "she said of the sanctions.

Rice called the moves - the harshest of this kind since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 - were in response to "a comprehensive policy to confront the threatening behavior of the Iranians."

But she also said that Washington remains open to "a diplomatic solution."

She also spoke directly to the Iranian people, saying the United States government had no conflict with them, and looked forward to aiding their ability to pursue "the peaceful use of nuclear power."

The announcement culminated a months-long series of harsh statements from both sides amid public recriminations both within the administration and the Congress over Tehran's strategic intentions. Rice on Thursday, for instance, repeated the administration's concern over statements indicating a desire in Tehran to "wipe Israel off the map."

She said the new sanctions will "provide a powerful deterrent" for companies in the United States and abroad to sever business relationships with Iran.

Paulson said it is nearly impossible for overseas businesses or banks to "know one's customer" in Iran and avoid unwittingly funding terrorism or other illicit activities.

Because of the IRGC's broad reach into business and other spheres, "it is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran you are doing business with the IRGC," Paulson said.

"It's simply not worth the risk."

The sanctions also cover three Iran state-owned banks, including Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat, as well as companies affiliated with the IRGC and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

The sanctions also name several individuals: General Hosein Salimi, Commander of the Air Force, IRGC; Brigadier General Morteza Rezaie, Deputy Commander of the IRGC; Vice Admiral Ali Akhbar Ahmadian, Chief of the IRGC Joint Staff; Brigadier Gen. Mohammad Hejazi, Commander of Bassij resistance force; Brigadier General Qasem Soleimani, Commander of the Qods Force; Ahmad Vahid Dastjerdi, Head of the Aerospace Industry Organization (AIO); Reza-Gholi Esmaeli, Head of Trade & International Affairs Dept., AIO; and Bahmanyar Morteza Bahmanyar, Head of Finance & Budget Department, AIO.

The actions mean that any assets found in the United States belonging to the designated groups or individuals must be frozen. Americans are also forbidden from doing business with them.

Importantly, the designations also put companies outside the United States on notice that doing business with the designated groups could be a problem.

The sanctions will cut off more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, from the American financial system and will likely have ripple effects throughout the international banking community.

The Quds Force, a part of the Guard Corps that Washington accuses of provided weapons, including powerful bombmaking materiel blamed for the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and other banks will be identified as "specially designated global terrorist" groups for their activities in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, the officials said.

Rice had told a House committee Wednesday that the administration shares Congress' goal of making sanctions tougher on Iran. She also declared that activities in Iraq by the Quds Force "are inconsistent with the Iranian government's obligations and stated commitment to support the Iraqi government."

The Washington Post said the Revolutionary Guard will be designated as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and the Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism, the Post reported.

The United States has long labeled Iran as a state supporter of terrorism and has been working for years to gain support for tougher sanctions from the international community aimed at keeping the country from developing nuclear weapons.

The sanctions being announced Thursday would be unilateral, however, and are believed to be the first of their type taken by the United States specifically against the armed forces of another government.

The sanctions reportedly will empower the United States to financially isolate a large part of Iran's military and anyone inside or outside Iran who does business with it.

Such steps could impact any number of foreign companies by pressuring them to stop doing business with the Revolutionary Guards or risk U.S. sanctions.

The Revolutionary Guards, formed to safeguard Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, has pushed well beyond its military roots, and now owns car factories and construction firms and operates newspaper groups and oil fields.

Current and former members now hold a growing role across the country's government and economy, sometimes openly and other times in shadow.

The guards have gained a particularly big role in the country's oil and gas industry in recent years, as the national oil company has signed several contracts with a guards-operated construction company. Some have been announced publicly, including a $2 billion deal in 2006 to develop part of the important Pars gas field.

Now numbering about 125,000 members, they report directly to the supreme leader and officially handle internal security. The small Quds Force wing is thought to operate overseas, having helped to create the militant Hezbollah group in 1982 in Lebanon and to arm Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan wars.

The administration also accuses the Quds Force of sending fighters and deadly roadside bombs, mortars and rockets to kill American troops in Iraq in recent years - allegations that Iran denies.

The United States pressures U.S. and European banks to do no business with Iranian banks, such as Bank Sedarat that the Bush administration believes help finance guards' business operations. But the United States has been known for some time to also be considering naming the entire group as a foreign terrorist organization, allowing wider financial crackdowns.

The sanctions come several weeks after the U.S. Senate passed a resolution by Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Tex., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., which called for naming Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization" - which would mark the first time a sovereign nation's armed forces would be placed on the United States' terrorism blacklist. Critics suggested this could not only alienate Iranian citizens but also lead the administration to launch a military strike against Iran without a Declaration of War by Congress.

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