The United States announced new sanctions on Iran.

According to Yahoo News, the Treasury Department announced Thursday, Feb 16, it is sanctioning Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), accusing it of sponsoring human rights abuses in both Iran and Syria, as well as being a sponsor of terrorism.

"Today we have designated the MOIS for abusing the basic human rights of Iranian citizens and exporting its vicious practices to support the Syrian regime's abhorrent crackdown on its own population," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in a Treasury Department press release Thursday. "The action came as key Washington lawmakers pressed for additional measures to further cut the Islamic republic off from the global financial network.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), a member of the Senate Banking committee, said Thursday he will meet in Washington next week with the general counsel of the Brussels-based SWIFT network to discuss cutting off Iranian banks from the financial clearinghouse.

The Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) handles most international financial transactions between banks. Severing ties with Iranian banks could make it difficult for the government to sell oil, which is a huge source of its funding.