The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Friday against the manager of the Dubai branch of Bank Melli, Iran's state-owned lender, and a Hong Kong-based company accused of helping designated Iranian individuals and entities access the international financial system. The department also proposed a rule to revoke correspondent banking access for Banque Misr UAE, an Egyptian bank with operations in the emirates, to U.S. financial institutions.
Iran's foreign ministry said the same day that the U.S. was undertaking "a new wave of economic terrorism against Iran". The ministry claimed the measures demonstrated "criminal intent" to inflict suffering on the Iranian people and deprive them of fundamental human rights, calling the actions "an international crime and a crime against humanity".
