RAMALLAH, 5 March 2007 — US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Eliott Levy met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and discussed ways to halt the funneling of funds to “terror” organizations and to tighten the economic boycott on Iran.
Israel and the United States are scheduled to hold talks this week on ways of stepping up the pressure on Iran using economic sanctions. The measures will target companies and banks involved with Iranian businesses that have ties to Tehran’s nuclear program or provide assistance to Hezbollah and Palestinian militant organizations.
Levy will also meet with senior figures of the Mossad, the Foreign Ministry officers, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the National Security Council, and the Atomic Energy Commission.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Olmert informed the Bush administration recently that he intended to appoint an official who will focus exclusively on the economic effort against Iran. As a result, the Forum for Preventive Diplomacy, headed by Mossad chief Meir Dagan, was bolstered with economic experts.
The Israeli officials will hear updates on the American efforts to convince European and other firms to avoid doing business with Iran. Israel in turn will offer the visiting US officials assistance in identifying firms that work with Iran and the trail of Iranian funding to nuclear and “terrorist” activities.
Levy believes that imposing a boycott on the banking and trading system of Iran would be much more effective than sanctions. It would not require long diplomatic efforts or complex legislation. It would be sufficient for the administration to announce that a company or a bank is on a black list, and they are immediately cut off from the American financial system, are unable to trade in dollars or make deals with banks in the US In an interview with the Washington Post, Levy said that Section 311 added to the Patriot Act several years ago, “has been more powerful than many thought possible.”
