Pascal Fletcher
HOLLYWOOD, Florida
Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:35am EDT
HOLLYWOOD, Florida (Reuters) - Adjusting and even selectively loosening
U.S. sanctions against countries like Iran and Cuba can serve foreign
policy goals by encouraging democratic change through greater Internet
freedom and other means, a U.S. Treasury official said on Monday.
Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC), which enforces U.S. sanctions against designated states,
companies and people, told a conference such "smart sanctions" would
help the U.S. government further its goals of fostering greater freedom
and democracy.
He said Washington last week adjusted its sanctions regimes against
Iran, Cuba and Sudan to allow the export by U.S. companies of services
and software related to personal communications over the Internet.
This was aimed at increasing the access of citizens in those states to
online communications technologies.
"It's exactly what I think OFAC needs to be doing, not simply
designating new targets or tightening sanctions, but also loosening
sanctions when it can further our foreign policy goals," Szubin said in
a keynote address to an international money laundering conference in
Hollywood, Florida.
He cited the increased use over the last year of the Internet and social
networking sites by opponents of Iran's government to disseminate their
anti-government activities.
He said this activity, carried out through online sites and tools like
Twitter, Facebook and instant messaging, removed any doubts "that
personal communication software and its widespread availability are
integral to seeing democratic change come to some of the most oppressive
regimes on earth."
"So we are doing our part ... to open that world up to the people of
Iran, to the people of Cuba and to the people of Sudan," Szubin said.
Iran remained a top priority in U.S. foreign policy and national
security, he said, citing its "pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in
contravention of repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions" and its
"active role as a supporter of terrorism."
"There is no country in the world that is supporting terrorism as close
to the level of Iran and its destabilizing role in the region, in
funding, arming and fueling insurgencies and the Taliban," Szubin said.
He said OFAC would seek to make its overall sanctions enforcement more
effective by clearly focusing and targeting its actions on major violators.
(Editing by John O'Callaghan)
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