Washington: The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB) for its role in helping other Syrian banks evade sanctions.

The US Treasury Department accused the bank of acting for the Commercial Bank of Syria and providing services to its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, both of which were put under sanctions by Washington in August 2011, Xinhua reported. It said SIIB "surreptitiously" facilitated financing worth almost $150 mn on behalf of the Commercial Bank of Syria from 2011 to 2012. IANS