WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday announced to sanction a Turkish national for six alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
In an announcement, OFAC sanctioned Evren Kayakiran, a Turkey-based individual, accusing him of directing a foreign subsidiary of a U.S. company to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran and then attempting to conceal those violations.
"Treasury is sanctioning Kayakiran not just for his willful violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran, but also for directing staff to commit and cover up these illegal acts," said Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The statement read that the designation of Kayakiran was pursuant to Executive Order 13608, which targets efforts by foreign persons to engage in activities intended to evade U.S. economic and financial sanctions with respect to Iran and Syria.
As a result of the sanction, all transactions or dealings directly or indirectly involving Kayakiran in or intended for the United States would be prohibited. U.S. financial institutions must reject payments involving Kayakiran.
Washington has reimposed comprehensive sanctions against Tehran since U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal last May, seeking to curtail "Iran's malign influence across the region."
On Jan. 24, the Treasury announced to impose sanctions against two Syria-based, Iran-backed militias and two aviation entities linked to Iranian airline Mahan Air.
In an international conference held in Tehran last December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the U.S. moves to exert sanctions on Iran as the "economic terrorism."
"We are here to voice that if the United States thinks that it can divide us, then it is making a grave mistake," Rouhani stressed.
