News

10:30GMT—6:30AM/EST

Washington,
9 September (WashingtonTV)—New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau
warned on Tuesday that the growing relationship between Iran and
Venezuela was a threat to national security and needed to be more
carefully tracked by American authorities.

In
a speech at the Brookings Institute think-tank in Washington,
Morgenthau said that investigations by his office show the Islamic
Republic is using Venezuela’s banking network to avoid international
sanctions and acquire the materials it needs for its nuclear program.

“For
Iran, the lifeblood of their nuclear and weapons program is the ability
to use the international banking system to make payments for banned
missile and nuclear materials,” he said, according to Reuters.

Morgenthau
recommended increasing transparency in financial transactions and
monitoring Venezuela’s banking system, with the possibility of imposing
economic sanctions.

Since
Venezuelan banks are not under sanctions, US banks processing wire
transfers from Venezuelan banks rely on their Venezuelan counterpart to
ensure that the exchanges are for legitimate purposes.

“I
have little faith that this is being effectively done, and the
Iranians, aware of this vulnerability, appear to... >>>