Asharq Al-Awsat talks to US Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen

London, Asharq Al-Awsat – David S. Cohen is the US Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.  He is responsible for leading the US Treasury Department’s efforts to identify and disrupt the lines of financial support to international terrorist organizations, narcotic traffickers, and anyone else who poses a threat to US national security.  He is also responsible for directing the US Treasury Department’s efforts to combat money laundering and financial crimes.  In this role, he has served as a member of the Obama administration’s national security team in developing financial strategies to combat national security threats and protect the US and international financial systems from abuse.

Prior to this, Cohen served as US Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorism Financing, where he was responsible for formulating and coordinating counter-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering efforts for Washington.  Cohen is a Yale Law School graduate, who first joined the US Treasury Department in 1999.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat at the US Embassy in London, US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David S. Cohen, spoke about the alleged Iranian-backed plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to Washington, US foreign policy towards Iran, particularly sanctions, as well as the situation in Syria.

The following is the full text of the interview:

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you tell our readers a little bit about what you are doing in London?

[Cohen] I am here principally to continue the conversation that we have been having with the UK government for many years about Iran.  We have been working very closely together with the UK for more years than I can count on the concerns that we share with respect to Iran’s nuclear program, but also with regards to the full range of illicit activity that Iran is involved in, so not just nuclear proliferation, but also Iran’s support for terrorism around the world; particularly its support for Hezbollah and Hamas.

One of the things that we have been focusing on in the conversations today was the plot that was revealed the week before last where the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guards] Qods Force operatives were aiming to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. We also briefly touched on some other issues of common concern in particular; Syria and the continuing efforts both by the United States and the EU to increase the pressure. I had meetings at the [British] Treasury department, the Cabinet Office, and the Foreign Office; all of which were very good meetings. We have a strong shared commitment and we will continue exerting pressure on Iran to build on the UN Security Council resolutions that have been adopted over the last several years, plus the independent actions taken by the UK, the EU, the US, and others to increasingly make clear the choice that they have between continuing to defy the international community, particularly with respect to its nuclear program, or taking the opportunity to engage with the seriousness of purpose with respect to the concerns that we all have.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Did the US or the UK come to any agreement in this regard?

[Cohen] We did not decide anything. We were talking about actions that we may be making in the near future.  There is a very unified view between the US and UK that the sanctions that have been applied thus far have been effective. They are having an impact on Iran and their leadership, but we clearly have not yet achieved the purpose of the sanctions. We are not applying sanctions for sanctions’ sake – we are applying them as a dual-track strategy.  On the other hand, ramping up the pressure will induce the Iranians to make the right choice. That is the purpose of the sanctions – to try and encourage the regime in Iran to understand the choice that it has to make and to pressure it to make the right choice. Because the sanctions are targeting illicit behaviour, we have also had an effect on the development of the nuclear program, which creates time and space for diplomatic efforts to take place.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Manssor Arbabsiar, the main defendant in the assassination case against the Saudi Ambassador to the US was in court earlier week.  If he is found guilty, will this result in more sanctions being imposed on Iran?

[Cohen] The case will take some time, as American criminal cases are prone to.  As for the sanctions that we will look to impose on Iran…we have been very clear that Iran has to be held accountable, and part of what we are talking about today with the UK is how to hold them accountable, in particular for this plot. We will continue to proceed in this regard

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What evidence is there that Iran was involved in the plot against the Saudi ambassador?

[Cohen] The complaint that the Justice Department filed contained a series of allegations about the plot, many of which were drawn from the interviews with Mr. Arbabsiar when he was collaborating with law enforcement. Many of those allegations are drawn from conversations that Arbabsiar had with the confidential informant who he thought he was hiring to carry out this assassination. Some of those conversations were recorded whilst others were reported by the confidential informant. I think the crucial piece of evidence is the hundred thousand dollar money transfer that we have a record of and which shows the money going from a bank in a third country to a bank account in the US that Arbabsiar believed belonged to the person he was hiring.  That evidence of this down-payment is a strong piece of evidence.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] To what extent have the sanctions that have been imposed on Iran affected the Iranian regime?

[Cohen] We have seen the sanctions clearly catching the attention of the Iranian leadership. Last fall in the aftermath of UN Security Council resolution 1929 when the EU imposed some vigorous sanction on Iran which followed new legislation in the US that was directed at doing business with foreign banks; the South Koreans took action, the Chinese took action, the Australians took action, the Canadians, Swiss and Norwegians took action [against Iran]. All of this combined action has clearly had an impact on Iran. For the first time since the UN resolution, the Iranian economy is projected not to grow at all. The macro-economic indicators in Iran are poor. Inflation and unemployment are both on the rise. This is exacerbating the poor economic management of the Iranian government.

If you look just at how the sanctions are being perceived by the leadership, the ones who are in a position to make the strategic choice with respect to the nuclear programs, I think that we do see indications that the sanctions are causing concern among the leadership. We don’t think that we have yet achieved what we are trying to achieve, which is to get the Iranian leadership to seriously reconsider its path. The indications that we have seen make us confident that we are proceeding in the right direction, and that if we increase pressure we are more likely to achieve the objective.

With respect to travel bans, the EU, the US and the other countries take different approaches to applying sanctions on Iran. We have never said that we should proceed in perfect lockstep in this regard but what is important is the extent to which there is a commonality in purpose between the countries, where we are all working together to impose pressure on the Iranian regime.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What sanctions can we expect to be issued against Iran in the future?

[Cohen] We are likely to see, in the future, sanction similar to those that we have seen in the past, but more intensively and more frequently. In the last several years we have been focused on attacking the financial institutions in Iran that are supporting Iranian proliferation.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What about Syria?

[Cohen]  The US and EU have approached the egregious violence against the people in a similar way. We have sanctions on the relevant ministries. We have sanctions that prohibit any US person being involved in the importation of Syrian oil. The EU has also taken similar steps. It is a hugely significant step for the EU to do that because something like 40 percent of Syria’s revenue comes from the sale of oil, and 95 percent of all Syrian oil sales came to the EU.  This will really put a huge amount of pressure on the al-Assad regime.  In the last ten days or so, the EU imposed sanctions on the Commercial Bank of Syria.  It is by far the most important bank in Syria – the US has imposed sanctions on them going back to 2005. Most recently, it has imposed sanctions on them because of their links to Syrian proliferation activity.

The IMF revised its estimate for GDP growth for Syria for this year from what had been a plus 2 percent projected growth to a minus 3 percent projected growth. That sort of effect is likely to continue.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] At the end of the day, isn’t there a chance that these sanctions will harm the Iranian and Syrian people, rather than the respective governments?

[Cohen] I think that nothing hurts the people more that the al- Assad regime turning tis weapons on its own people. The numbers of people that were killed in Syria in the last 6 months by the regime far outstrips whatever pain is incurred because of the sanctions. We are mindful that sanctions can have an effect on the population at large, but it is very much out considered opinion that the violence inflicted on the Syrian people by the Syrian government is far more harmful. The same applies to the situation in Iran. The people of Iran deserve a government that respects their universal rights – this government does not. The Tehran regime is pursuing a nuclear program, it defying the international community and is supporting terrorism; it is far more harmful to the Iranian people than our sanctions.