
© AP/KJNSigal P. Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intel at US Treasury
This is part one of a two part series on the growing impact of the US economic war on Iran.From her influential post at the Treasury Department,
Sigal Mandelker has vowed to defend "our great partner, Israel" by sanctioning Iran. Her actions have resulted in FBI interrogations of US citizens who attended a conference in Iran and the likely liquidation of a bank that partnered with the US government.
Several US citizens have been questioned by the FBI and threatened with arrest for their participation in New Horizon, a public media conference held each year in Iran.
The interrogations and threats are the result of orders apparently delivered by Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal P. Mandelker, a militantly pro-Israel lawyer with longstanding ties to right-wing political networks.Mandelker was reportedly involved in brokering the infamous Florida deal that allowed the wealthy child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to avoid federal charges.Since Mandelker's appointment as Under Secretary of Treasury in 2017, she has been described on pro-Israel news sites as a "former Israeli" and "Israeli-born."
Asked by The Grayzone if Mandelker currently holds Israeli citizenship, and if so, whether she was given a special exemption that allowed her to obtain a security clearance,
the US Department of Treasury did not reply.Mandelker's actions against the US citizens who participated in New Horizon represent an under-acknowledged but significant escalation in the Trump administration's strategy of "maximum pressure" to bring about regime change in Iran. As the
Atlantic noted,
Mandelker is "the one with her hand on the lever" of Trump's unilateral sanctions policy against Iran.
Comment: We don't find anything strange about the I.C. seeking out a suitable victim to portray as a Russian agent just to hurt Trump's chances of having a successful meeting with Putin. They're THAT unpatriotic and demented.
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