Rice: U.S. will cut off Iran's 'malignant' actions (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. will cut off Iran's 'malignant' actions
25 Oct 2007 03:42:50 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds report of sanctions to be announced on Thursday)

By Sue Pleming and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday the United
States would cut off Iran's "malignant" activities in
Iraq and was working urgently to impose more punitive
measures against Tehran.

Speaking to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee, Rice said Washington was looking closely at
"new designations" against Tehran, which the United
States accuses of fomenting violence in Iraq and
pursuing an atomic bomb.

"One of our best levers, and it is a really simple
proposition, Iran should not be able to use the
international financial system to move its ill-gotten
gains from proliferation or terrorism around the world,"
Rice said.

-snip-

Rice did not provide details of when or what might be
imposed. But U.S. officials say the Bush administration
is very close to imposing restrictions on the elite
Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,
which the United States accuses of arming and training
militants in Iraq.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24196161.htm

[Eugene]

1. US Ready to Roll Out New Iran Sanctions (AP)

Source: Associated Press

US Ready to Roll Out New Iran Sanctions

Thursday October 25, 2007 9:16 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is ready
to roll out a package of new sanctions against Iran
aimed particularly at the Revolutionary Guard Corps and
its Quds Force that U.S. officials have accused of
stirring up trouble in Iraq and elsewhere, according to
published reports.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a House
committee on Wednesday that the administration shares
Congress' goal of making sanctions tougher on Iran and
declared that activities in Iraq by the Quds Force “are
inconsistent with the Iranian government's obligations
and stated commitment to support the Iraqi government.”

She and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were
scheduled to jointly announce a package of sanctions
Thursday that The Washington Post cited senior
administration officials as saying would be the broadest
set of punitive measures against Iran since the 1979
takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

“This is going to be a broad and wide-ranging effort,”
The New York Times quoted a senior official as saying.
“We will be freezing assets and there will be ripple
effects of where we can go from there.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7023066,00.html

[RC]

2. Hey Rice! What happens when

Russia and China decide to cut off our "malignant" activities in the Middle East?