UN sanctions could target Iran bank

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In an effort to persuade Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, Western nations are considering whether or not to impose United Nations sanctions on Bank Sepah, Irans oldest bank. No decision on such an action had been made as of Wednesday, but diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany have been discussing ways of implementing tougher sanctions against Iran after it refused to meet a recent UN deadline for suspending its nuclear program. Any new sanctions would be on top of earlier sanctions enacted by the UN in December. Bank Sepah has denounced the US sanctions and possible wider sanctions against it, saying that they are based on fabricated statements and unfounded allegations. It said it will seek remedies to the sanctions soon.The United States has already prohibited US banks from dealing with Bank Sepah, in a sanction put into place in January by the administration of President George W. Bush. The decision was taken after the Bush administration said that the bank has connections to Irans missile program and effectively stopped it from making transactions in US dollars. European sanctions would likely have a greater effect since Bank Sepah International has offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Rome. Sanctions by some European nations, however, will probably not be enacted unless the bank is specifically mentioned in a UN resolution. Germany and Sweden have both said that it would be difficult to enact from a legal standpoint absent such a specific resolution from the UN.In addition to financial sanctions, Germany and the five permanent Security Council members are also talking about imposing limited restrictions on arms deals with Iran, but Russia is likely to resist such a sanction. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.