U.S. Imposes New Sanctions Against Iran

Under the same executive order, the administration also intends to designate Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, which controls Iran's defense industries, as well as companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said.

The overall impact, according to U.S. officials, will be to make a pariah of the most critical parts of Iran's military and its defense and commercial industries.

The Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, will be designated separately as a supporter of terrorism under Executive Order 13224, which Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding, U.S. officials said. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorism.

The Quds Force -- "Quds" is Arabic for Jerusalem -- is estimated to number up to 15,000 and runs Tehran's covert activities throughout the Middle East, including arms, aid and training for groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. U.S. officials say that it has provided the high-tech bombs capable of penetrating armored vehicles and the roadside explosives that are the No. 1 killer of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Although Iran's suspected weapons programs have been a longtime problem for the United States, the Quds Force's operations in Iraq have become a bigger immediate challenge. "The Quds Force controls the policy for Iraq," Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said earlier this month. "There should be no confusion about that."

The U.S. decision to impose unilateral sanctions reflects the administration's deepening frustration over Iran's role in attacks against American troops in Iraq, its aid to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment that could be used for both peaceful energy and to develop a bomb. U.S. efforts to engage Iran in a dialogue -- between their respective ambassadors in Baghdad beginning in March -- have been matched by an escalation in the quantity and quality of Iranian arms provided to Shiite militants in Iraq, U.S. officials said.

Administration officials say that they are imposing new sanctions to demonstrate a commitment to diplomacy, even amid increasing rumblings from neoconservatives outside the administration about possible military action.

In a speech Sunday, Vice President Cheney warned Tehran of "serious consequences" if it continues on its present course. "Our country and the entire international community cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions," he said.

The United States hopes that allies in Europe and Asia will impose similar sanctions, because efforts to get a tough U.N. resolution have stalled as a result of Russian and Chinese opposition. "The international community's got to get a lot tougher if it's going to be resolved diplomatically," Rice said about Iran's suspected nuclear program.