U.S. okays NGO quake-relief funds to Iran

 WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Treasury¹ on Tuesday temporarily allowed non-governmental organizations ( NGOs) to transfer donations to help quake relief and reconstruction² efforts in Iran.

According to a general license³ the Treasury just issued, U.S.- based tax-exempt NGOs can collect and transfer donations for 45 days to support northwestern Iran, which was hit by two powerful earthquakes on Aug. 11 that killed more than 306 people and injured over 3,000.

The Treasury allows each NGO to transfer up to 300,000 dollars until Oct. 5, but the transactions must go through a third-country financial institution to an Iranian counterpart not subjected to U. S. sanctions.

The U.S. has a number of sanctions against Iran, which is accused by Washington of seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Following the deadly earthquake, Washington expressed its readiness to help Iran, but Tehran has not accepted the offer, the Treasury said.

To transfer more than 300,000 dollars, NGOs will need to apply for a special license, the Treasure added.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。