Rigid new US sanctions against Iran came into force Monday including bans on the sale or barter of gold to the Islamic republic, as Washington ratchets up efforts to isolate the country over its nuclear program.
Turkey is believed to conduct extensive business with Iran using gold, and US lawmakers suspect it of importing Iranian natural gas and paying for the energy with the metal to circumvent existing restrictions on financial transactions with Tehran.
For years, the US and the international community have imposed an arsenal of sanctions against Iran, accusing it of using its civilian nuclear energy program as a cover for attempts to build atomic weapons -- charges Tehran denies.
US President Barack Obama last July targeted Iran's oil export sector, vowing punishment against firms that circumvented restrictions on the financial dealings.
Lawmakers saw the enforcement measures as lagging, and last December passed the sanctions that went into effect Monday.
"Congress is going to definitely hold the administration's feet to the fire on enforcement," Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told AFP.
In practice, gold sales by any person or group to an Iranian government entity or private citizen can now trigger sanctions against the seller.
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The new measures extend to the totality of the Iran sectors, punishing groups that do business with any Iranian firm in the named industries, rather than just with specific companies identified by Washington.
"By really blacklisting the Iranian economy and targeting gold, they're really sending a message out to the international business community; there are very few areas of the Iranian economy where you can legally do business," Dubowitz said.
Meanwhile Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the sanctions are not aimed at hurting the Iranian people but to "change their decision" about pursuing a nuclear program.
Lew hoped the sanctions would work, he said Sunday at a conference in Aspen, Colorado, because "the alternatives are worse."
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