SWIFT cuts off Iran's Central Bank

SWIFT cut-off Iranian financial institutions, including the Iranian central bank, targeted by the U.S. sanctions, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Sigal Mandelker said.

The U.S. Treasury official stressed that Washington would be strictly enforcing its sanctions regime against Tehran and announced that there would be "a lot more from the US on Iran," Sputnik reported.

Mandelker noted that Washington is not concerned by the idea of the creation of a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) in the EU to work with Iran, expressing confidence that the US and Europe could still work together. The official noted that despite the idea of an SPV, "companies already are leaving Iran."

"I am not concerned by the SPV actually at all. I think the bigger news in Europe is that companies are withdrawing from Iran in droves," Mandelker said.