Stuart Levey

The Obama administration has decided to retain the official who led the Bush administration's effort to squeeze Iran with economic sanctions, providing an important clue on how it intends to approach the Islamic Republic. Stuart Levey, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will remain in his post, officials said. Levey has overseen an effort to dissuade international banks from dealing with Iranian government agencies and firms that U.S.

Turkey has rebuffed a U.S. effort to persuade it to scale back its trade ties with Iran despite a persistent U.S. lobbying campaign this week in Washington and Ankara. Ali Babacan, a Turkish deputy prime minister, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that Turkish companies remained "free to make their own decisions" about whether to comply with U.S. and European sanctions aimed at cutting off trade with Iran. The sanctions, the latest round of which were adopted in June, were designed to build enough economic pressure on Iran to persuade its leaders to limit its disputed nuclear program.

Turkey has rebuffed a U.S. effort to persuade it to scale back its trade ties with Iran despite a persistent U.S. lobbying campaign this week in Washington and Ankara. Ali Babacan, a Turkish deputy prime minister, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that Turkish companies remained "free to make their own decisions" about whether to comply with U.S. and European sanctions aimed at cutting off trade with Iran. The sanctions, the latest round of which were adopted in June, were designed to build enough economic pressure on Iran to persuade its leaders to limit its disputed nuclear program.

The Obama administration has decided to retain the official who led the Bush administration's effort to squeeze Iran with economic sanctions, providing an important clue on how it intends to approach the Islamic Republic. Stuart Levey, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will remain in his post, officials said. Levey has overseen an effort to dissuade international banks from dealing with Iranian government agencies and firms that U.S.

Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow, the Bush administration's top financial counter-terrorism official said Tuesday. Stuart A.

The Bush administration took action Wednesday against three Saudis suspected of raising money to bankroll terrorist acts and supporting an Al Qaeda-affiliated group believed responsible for bombings and kidnappings in Southeast Asia. The action covers Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad Abdallah Salih Sughayr and Fahd Muhammad Abd Al-Aziz Al-Khashiban, the Treasury Department said.

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The Bush administration moved Tuesday to freeze the assets of a major Iranian bank it suspects of helping spread weapons of mass destruction. The action against Bank Sepah, Iran's fifth-largest state-owned financial institution, means that any of the bank's accounts or other financial assets found in the U.S. must be frozen. Americans also are barred from doing business with it.

On the same day that Iran and the West agreed to meet next week for talks on Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. announced a set of fresh sanctions on the Islamic Republic's shipping lines, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said defiantly that his nation would not budge "one iota" on giving up what he described as its rights. It was perhaps an inauspicious launch to the first set of talks between Iran and world powers over its controversial nuclear program in 14 months. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili agreed Tuesday to hold talks in Geneva on Dec. 6-7 in an attempt to jump-start stalled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, an announcement said.

May the U.S. government kill one of its own citizens without first convicting him of a crime? A court may have the opportunity to answer that important question. After being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Treasury Department has issued a license allowing the civil liberties groups to provide legal services to the father of Anwar Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric who is reportedly on a list of individuals targeted for assassination by the military or the CIA. Awlaki's father insists that his son is not a terrorist.

Re "Terrorism money is still flowing," March 24 The Times oversimplifies our government's strategy on counter-terrorist financing by ignoring the broader objective. Fighting terrorist financing is about more than sanctioning terrorists and freezing bank accounts; it is an effort to collect and use financial intelligence to understand and disrupt terrorist networks in support of our overall counter-terrorism strategy. Financial intelligence is exceptionally reliable and has proved to be immensely valuable in mapping terrorist networks, thereby enabling a variety of counter-terrorism responses.

The Bush administration removed a key stumbling block to the nuclear disarmament of North Korea by agreeing Wednesday to enable the release of North Korean funds frozen in a Macao bank linked to illicit weapons and money laundering. The decision by the Treasury Department clears the way for Chinese monetary authorities in Macao to return to North Korea as much as $25 million in funds held at Banco Delta Asia. The freeze, imposed after U.S.