New U.S. Sanctions Against Rial

The United States has introduced sanctions against the Iranian currency rial, the White House has announced.

The sanctions target any “foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate significant transactions for the purchase or sale of the Iranian rial, or that maintain significant accounts outside Iran denominated in the Iranian rial,” reads a statement issued on Monday by the White House Press Secretary.

“While the rial has lost half of its value since the beginning of 2012 as a result of our comprehensive sanctions, this is the first time that trade in the rial has been targeted directly for sanctions,” the statement added.

The sanctions will go into effect on July 1.

New sanctions have also been imposed on “the sale, supply, or transfer to Iran of significant goods or services used in connection with the manufacturing or assembling in Iran of light and heavy vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, buses, minibuses, pick-up trucks, and motorcycles.”