ATTN:
The Honorable Antony Blinken Secretary
Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
The Honorable Janet Yellen Secretary
Department of Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20220
Dear Secretaries Blinken and Yellen,
As an Iranian-American organization, NUFDI is concerned that Mohammad-Reza Farzin, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), is in Washington, D.C., reportedly for meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The CBI and the National Development Fund of Iran (NDF) are sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. According to the Treasury, “Iran’s Central Bank has provided billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), its Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its terrorist proxy, Hizballah. Iran’s NDF…whose board of trustees include Iran’s governor of the Central Bank, has been a major source of foreign currency and funding for the IRGC-QF and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL)”. In 2019, the U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence said, “We are putting governments on notice that they are risking the integrity of their financial systems by continuing to work with the Iranian regime’s arm of terror finance, its Central Bank”.
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The Treasury Department has specifically targeted the CBI Governor in the past, such as then-Governor Valiollah Seif who was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) pursuant to E.O. 13224 in 2018 for having “conspired with the IRGC-QF to move millions of dollars through the global financial system in a variety of foreign currencies to allow the IRGC-QF to fund its activities abroad”. Experts and analysts have suggested that the United States should similarly target Mr. Farzin pursuant to E.O. 13224 or E.O. 13876. Instead of being sanctioned, he has been permitted entry to the United States.
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It is extremely worrisome that the leader of an entity sanctioned under counterterrorism authorities would be allowed to enter the United States. Moreover, this visit comes at a time when Iranian Americans and U.S. officials are being targeted and harassed inside America by Islamic Republic-affiliated individuals. Therefore, NUFDI is requesting that you investigate and respond to the following:
1. Why was the Governer of the CBI permitted to enter the United States?
2. What steps are being taken to ensure that this visit doesn’t further endanger Iranian Americans?
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3. Will Mr. Farzin partake in meetings with any U.S. officials regarding any potential deal with the Islamic Republic during his time in Washington, D.C.?
4. Why is the CBI Governor–either the office, or the current occupant–not sanctioned under E.O. 13224 or E.O. 13876?
We thank you, in advance, for your attention to this matter and for your response.