A Treasury spokeswoman declined to provide further details about the announcement, scheduled for 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), but the Bush administration has been ratcheting up pressure against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.
The scheduled news conference comes three after weeks the United Nations Security Council voted to impose sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology in an effort to halt enrichment work that could be used to produce nuclear bombs. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
As Treasury’s point man for combating terrorist financing and money laundering, Levey has warned international banks in recent months to watch for flows of money from Iran to finance illicit activities such as terrorism or weapons proliferation.
In September, Levey announced measures to cut off one of Iran’s main state-owned banks from dealings with the U.S. financial system, accusing the Iranian government of using the bank to transfer money to terrorist organizations.
He charged that the bank, with 3,400 branch offices, was transferring money to Hizbollah and Hamas as well as other groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
