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Despite Sanctions, Iran's Money Flow Continues
(Wall Street Journal) Avi Jorisch - The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift, facilitates about a million global financial transactions per day by serving as an interbank messaging system for crediting and debiting accounts. While Swift has barred 14 Iranian banks blacklisted by the EU, the other 16 Iranian banks blacklisted by the U.S. are free to work within the global financial system. U.S. banking regulators and Treasury officials have an obligation to make Swift stop its dealings with Iranian banks or cease business operations in the U.S. If Swift continues to service banks that the U.S. Treasury has designated as engaged in "specified unlawful activities," the U.S. government can take immediate legal action and freeze Swift's U.S.-based assets. The writer, a former Treasury Department official, is senior fellow for counterterrorism at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington.