The European-Iranian Trade Bank AG, based in Germany, was added to the U.S. Treasury's blacklist on Sept. 7, for its alleged financial support of Iranian companies involved in weapons sales. The move prohibits the Hamburg-based bank -- referred to as EIH Bank for its German initials -- from participating in U.S. financial activity.

This publication reported earlier this summer that Tehran was increasingly dependent upon the EIH to carry out business on behalf of the regime's blacklisted firms. "As one of Iran's few remaining access points to the European financial system, EIH has facilitated a tremendous volume of transactions for Iranian banks previously [blacklisted] for proliferation," said Stuart Levey, the top counterterrorism official at the Treasury.

EIH, an Iranian-owned bank with German licensure, becomes the 17th financial institution blacklisted by the United States for its support of weapons proliferation or global terrorism.