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Obama Administration to Target Dozens of IRGC Front Companies in Effort to Squeeze Iran
(Newsweek) Michael Hirsh and Michael Isikoff - The Obama administration has approved an aggressive plan to ratchet up sanctions on Iran in an effort to squeeze that country's economy, a senior administration official told Newsweek. The centerpiece of the plan calls for the Treasury Department to target front companies of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). "It's important for Obama that the United States do exactly what it says it's going to do," says the senior official. "We said at the end of the year we would turn to sanctions" if diplomacy to put an end to Iran's nuclear program didn't produce results. "We tried the engagement route," the official said. Stuart Levey, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, noted that the IRGC's business interests have been steadily taking over Iran's economy.