The Biden administration is trying to maintain sanctions pressure while avoiding “a global economic catastrophe,” the agency says
The Biden administration is privately urging leading US banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup to continue doing business with strategic Russian firms despite sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, people familiar with the issue told Bloomberg.
The requests have been made by the US Treasury and State Departments as the government tries to maintain pressure on Russia, but at the same time avoid “a global economic catastrophe,” the news agency reported on Monday.
Washington has been requesting services such as US dollar settlements, payment transfers, and trade finance for Russian firms that are exempt from certain aspects of the sanctions, including gas giant Gazprom and fertilizer producers Uralkali and PhosAgro, the sources said.
As a result, the largest American banks are currently being “caught in the push-pull” between the Biden administration and Congress, which insists on harsher measures against Moscow.
The sanctions prevent US banks from providing services to blacklisted entities and people, with violations punishable by multibillion-dollar fines.
Jamie Dimon the CEO of investment bank JPMorgan Chase was reportedly grilled at a congressional hearing in September over his company allegedly using loopholes in the sanctions regime to keep working with Russia. The banker responded by saying that “we are following the instructions of the American government as they asked us to do it.”
When addressed on the matter by Bloomberg, a Treasury spokesman said that it had issued guidance to banks, clarifying that activities in humanitarian aid, energy, and agriculture are authorized. JPMorgan and Citigroup have declined to comment.
“Congress needs to understand this - the US government has not imposed a comprehensive embargo with Russia, there’s still pockets of business that are allowed,” Nnedinma Ifudu Nweke, an attorney specializing in US economic sanctions at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, pointed out.
The Treasury “will continue to have meetings to educate banks on those pockets of allowable transactions, especially in the humanitarian space,” Nweke added.
https://www.rt.com/russia/566119-us-banks-sanctions-ukraine/
A fresh wave of Iranian retaliatory strikes has crippled a major US air base in Bahrain, with strikes destroying command centers as Iranian forces continue launching firm response to the US-Israeli aggression.
"Ten key and strategic command points and equipment complexes of the American terrorist forces at the 'Sheikh Isa Air Base' in Bahrain were heavily hit by Iranian projectiles," The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on the 15th wave of operation "True Promise 4".
The targets destroyed included the air control command center of the American terrorist forces, aircraft fuel depots, and the building housing high-ranking American commanders, according to the statement.
Earlier in the day the IRGC announced that its naval forces launched a large-scale drone and missile operation on the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain early this morning .......more below
...
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced execution of the 16th wave of its underway Operation True Promise 4 against renewed Israeli-American aggression towards the Islamic Republic.
In a statement issued in late Tuesday, the Corps noted that it had struck the "heart and the northern parts of the occupied territories" with "effective" missile and drone operations conducted by its Aerospace Division.
It cited some of the targets as the general staff of the Israeli regime's army and its ministry of war in Hakiriya, the strategic infrastructures lying in Bnei Brak, military targets stationed in Beit Hakfa, northeast of Tel Aviv, and the military center in Western Galilee.
According to intelligence sources and field monitoring, enemy military casualties have increased to more than 680 killed and wounded by the fourth day of the reprisal, the Corps stated.
The statement pointed to "operational weakness, technical gaps, and the reduced computational capability in the multi-layer defense ...
The Iranian army has reported that its air defense systems successfully destroyed six advanced enemy drones over the last 24 hours as they were flying over the Iranian territory.
In a communique issued on Tuesday, the army stated that the drones were intercepted and shot down by the integrated systems of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base.
It further specified that six advanced “Hermes” drones were targeted and destroyed across various regions, including Isfahan, Qasr-e Shirin, Tabriz, Khuzestan province, and the greater Tehran area.
Since the beginning of the war on Saturday, a total of 35 advanced hostile drones have been intercepted and downed, the army reported.
These operations were executed by ground-based air defense units, fighter jets from the Air Force, and units of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), all operating under the country’s integrated air defense network.
Iran’s military has been conducting sustained retaliatory attacks against the American ...
