U.S. allies and partners will face "very significant risks" if they continue to do business with Iran, including the possibility of getting hit with sanctions from Washington.
The U.S. Treasury Department warned Tuesday that Iran's use of shell companies and illicit financing to fund malign activities continued unabated, even after it signed the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. officials said they expect Tehran to ramp up such activities.
"The Iranian regime will deceive your companies, undermine the integrity of your financial systems, and put your institutions at risk of our powerful sanctions, all to fund terrorism, human rights abuses, and terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis," said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
President Donald Trump last month announced the U.S. was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran, calling it "a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made."
He also ordered U.S. agencies to reinstitute all nuclear sanctions against Tehran.
But European countries have been hesitant to toss aside the deal, provided the Iranian government sticks to its provisions.
Mandelker encouraged U.S. allies to harden their financial systems and encourage their companies to do extra work to make sure they are not inadvertently helping pay for what she called Iran's nefarious activities across the Middle East.
Mandelker also warned the U.S. "will apply uNPRecedented financial pressure" against the Iranian government.