The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force is expected to blacklist Iran on Friday after European governments joined the US in their efforts to isolate Tehran. The blacklist aims to isolate Iran financially, straining the already weak economy after years of sanctions. This will broaden the US-led effort after recent events such as the downing of a Ukrainian plane in Iran and the country-wide internet shutdown earlier this year. The Financial Action Task force’s decision will place Iran’s financial transactions under heightened scrutiny and escalate the pressure on Iranian business still working with the Islamic Republic.
The US and its allies hope to use the blacklist action to compel the Iranian government to cut its ties with terrorist groups and eliminate its controversial nuclear weapons program. Many Western banks have already severed ties with Tehran as a response to the US-imposed sanctions, which have dramatically cut Iran’s oil sales. Iran’s oil sales are its largest revenue source, therefore the sanctions greatly affected its economy. The sanctions also encouraged Iranians to take to the streets in protests against the Iranian government.
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