NCRI – The U.S. Treasury Department has designated the New York-based ASSA Corporation as a front for an Iranian regime’s bank that helps spread weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. Treasury Wednesday said it is freezing the U.S. assets of ASSA Corporation, which runs a building on New York City's Fifth Avenue, and its parent company, ASSA Corporation Limited, located in the Channel Islands.
Both entities were designated for being controlled by and/or acting on behalf of, Bank Melli.
"This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli — a known proliferator — to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," said the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Stuart Levey.
"The dangerous mix of proliferation and deception has led the United States, the European Union and Australia to designate Bank Melli, and the United Nations to issue a call for vigilance with respect to all Iranian banks," he said in a statement.
Bank Melli was designated by the United States in October 2007, was identified in UN Security Council Resolution 1803 as a bank of proliferation concern warranting greater scrutiny, and was designated by the European Union in August 2008 for its support for proliferation.
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The report is based on wire news dispatches
