US officials to discuss strengthening sanctions compliance against Iran during trip to UAE

DUBAI, Dec.9 (Reuters) – The United States will send a high-ranking government delegation to the United Arab Emirates next week to meet with banks over concerns over compliance with sanctions against Iran, a spokesperson said on Thursday. word of the State Department, while nuclear talks with Iran are at a standstill.

The move suggests that Washington is seeking to increase economic pressure on Tehran amid Western doubts over Tehran’s determination to save the 2015 nuclear deal.

It also comes as the United Arab Emirates, an ally of the United States, strives to improve relations with its neighbor Iran in a bid to contain regional tensions.

The US delegation, which will include the head of the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea Gacki, will warn UAE banks that do business with Iran and do not comply with the sanctions.

A State Department spokesperson said the United States had evidence of non-compliance and banks could later be sanctioned or penalized for their transactions.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates did not respond to a request for comment.

As the UAE shares Gulf power Saudi Arabia’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile program and regional proxies, Abu Dhabi has stepped up contacts with Tehran and sent a senior official. in Iran last Monday. Read more

The United Arab Emirates, which has had trade relations with Iran for more than a century, said in 2018 that it fully complied with sanctions reimposed on Iran after then-US President Donald Trump , resigned from the nuclear deal.

Under the pact, Iran agreed with the major powers that it would curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions.

About a year after Washington reimposed the sanctions, Iran began violating nuclear restrictions. Tehran denies having searched for nuclear weapons.

Talks are underway in Vienna on relaunching the deal but they have shown little progress. Read more

If there is no progress in these talks, the United States could send delegations to several other countries to step up economic pressure on Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The US and Israeli defense chiefs were due to discuss possible military exercises on Thursday to prepare for the worst-case scenario of destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails, a senior US official told Reuters. Read more

Reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Davide Barbuscia in Dubai, Jahnavi Nidumulu in Bengaluru; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous, Kevin Liffey, Raissa Kasolowsky and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.