The Trump administration accused the head of Iran's central bank of funneling money to Hezbollah and designated him as a global terrorist on Tuesday, placing further financial constraints on Tehran a week after President Trump called for reimposing sanctions that were lifted as part of an Obama-era nuclear deal.
The new designation is separate from the nuclear sanctions that were reinstated last week against Iran. But after Mr. Trump announced his decision to back out of the nuclear deal, he promised to impose sanctions on any companies — including banks — that do business with Iran.
Last week, the United States Treasury Department, in coordination with the United Arab Emirates, sought to disrupt an Iranian currency exchange network that transferred money to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to help fund Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist group. The exchange system worked with Iran's central bank, and the Treasury Department said Tuesday's actions were a continuation of attempts to disrupt it.
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