[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on the FSB, Russia’s intelligence agency, for its role in detaining Americans like Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused of espionage.
The administration also announced sanctions against Iran’s intelligence service and four senior Iranian officials, who the administration says have engaged in a pattern of arresting Americans and other nationals.
The action was the first attempt by the US government to formally punish a foreign government for taking America by storm in an effort to shut down access to the international financial system. In a statement on Thursday evening, President Biden called on both countries to release the hostages.
“Today – and every day – our message to Russia, Iran and the world is that holding Americans hostage or wrongly holding them is unacceptable,” Mr Biden said. “Release soon.”
He said the sanctions meant “all designated property and interests in property owned or controlled by US persons are currently blocked.”
But administration officials have acknowledged that the sanctions are designed primarily as a way to send a message of disapproval to Russia and Iran, as the intelligence agencies of both countries have come under strict financial sanctions for their actions in other areas.
Still, the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sanctions before they are officially announced, said imposing penalties on the two regimes is an important part of the often-difficult effort to bring Americans home.
They were hinted that the sanctions could be in future talks about the release of Mr. Gershkovich or other detained Americans. When asked whether lifting the sanctions could be part of the negotiations, one official pointed to language in an official announcement by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“The strength and integrity of OFAC’s sanctions comes not only from OFAC’s ability to identify and add people” to the sanctions list, Treasury said, “but also from its willingness to remove people.”
“The main purpose of sanctions is not to punish,” the statement added, “but to change positive behavior.”
It is not clear how much weight the intelligence agencies in Russia and Iran will place on the sanctions, or whether they will be lifted.
If the FSB or the intelligence arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has financial assets in foreign countries at some point, those assets may be frozen or cut off for a long time, due to sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In addition to the two agencies, four Iranian officials were targeted for sanctions. They include the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence agency, two deputies, and a counterintelligence officer at the agency. Officials said all four had been involved in the detention of Americans and other activities, including assassination plots.
The official said he expected more sanctions to be imposed on the hostages in the coming months.
Mr. Gershkovich is the latest American to be arrested by Russia when he was detained on March 30 and accused of espionage. The Biden administration says Mr. Gershkovich is not a spy and believes he was wrongfully detained by Russia.
After speaking to Mr. Gershkovich’s family the day after his arrest, Mr. Biden said his administration “stated that what happened was absolutely illegal.”
Officials said the decision to prepare sanctions against Russia and Iran began long before Mr. Gershkovich was detained by Russia, but added that the case added to a “pattern of activity” that justified punishing the government.
In addition to Mr. Gershkovich, Russia is holding other Americans, including Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who has been detained in Russia since 2018 on what the US government says are false espionage charges. Russia also arrested Marc Fogel, an American who was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony for possession of medical marijuana.
Brittney Griner, an American basketball star arrested on similar drug charges, was released late last year after nearly 10 months in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Death Merchant.”
In October, Iran released Siamak Namazi, a 51-year-old dual-national Iranian American businessman who had been imprisoned since 2015, on temporary leave and lifted a travel ban on his father, Baquer Namazi, 85, a former official for the United Nations.
But Mr. Namazi is back in an Iranian prison, and earlier this year went on a one-week hunger strike to protest his detention. At the time, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said that “Iran’s use of wrongful arrests as political leverage is outrageous.”
Iran also captured Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. Mr. Tahbaz, 67, a businessman and conservationist, has been detained since 2018. Mr. Sharghi, also a businessman, was arrested in January. Both were detained by the Iranian government on charges of spying and threatening national security.
In January, Ms. Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration “continues to work to bring them home, along with the US citizens wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”
[ad_2]
Source link