The US Treasury announced the sanctions on Thursday, saying that they are aimed at Iran’s “oil network”.
The measures targeted individuals, businesses, and individuals connected to US companies that had already been sanctioned. The US frequently imposed these sanctions under former president Joe Biden.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated in a statement that the Iranian regime is still focused on using its oil revenues to support its regional terrorist proxy groups, the development of its nuclear program, and to produce its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
“The United States is determined to aggressively combat any Iranian effort to extort money from these evil activities.”
Iran has long criticized efforts to evict its oil exports as “piracy” and sanctions against it.
The Treasury said the sanctions include “entities and individuals in multiple jurisdictions”, including China, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump’s pressure campaign against Iran, which he started in his first term after nixing an international deal with Tehran in 2018, is now under the umbrella of an executive order signed on Thursday.
That multilateral agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was struck in 2015. Iran’s nuclear program would have been reduced if international sanctions had been lifted against its economy.
Biden attempted to broker a new deal, but his goal was met by numerous indirect negotiations with Iran. With the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, the diplomatic effort was further hampered.
In the end, the previous administration imposed more sanctions on Tehran and kept them in place.
Republicans, however, claimed that Biden had violated the sanctions and had not riggedly halted Iranian oil sales, particularly in China.
Trump’s executive order instructs US officials to review and impose tighter sanctions in order to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero” this week. The Treasury’s actions on Thursday are seen as a response to that demand.
Trump has maintained his willingness to talk to Iranian officials despite the recent pressure campaign.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful country, but one that cannot have a nuclear weapon”, the US president told reporters on Tuesday.
Iranian leaders have denied having nuclear weapons, but Tehran has increased its uranium enrichment program for years in response to US sanctions.
It is widely believed that Israel, the main US ally in the Middle East, also has an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
On Thursday, the State Department welcomed the US penalties, saying that Washington will not tolerate “destructive and destabilizing behavior”.
In a statement, it described Tehran’s oil exports as “illicit”. However, Iran, a sovereign nation, is selling its own oil.
The State Department stated that “these sales support terrorist and proxy groups.”
Source: Aljazeera
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