More than 30 people, organisations, and shadow fleet ships were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday for allegedly facilitating Iran’s illegal oil sales, ballistic missile development, and weapons manufacturing.
Trump Imposes Fresh Set Of Sanctions On Iran Targeting Individuals, Entities And Tankers Ahead Of Geneva Talks
According to the department, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also targeted several networks that allow Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to obtain the equipment and precursor materials needed to produce ballistic missiles and other weapons. Donald Trump, the Republican president, has started a campaign to suppress Iran’s economy. In addition, he dispatched American troops to the Middle East and threatened to launch an attack if Tehran fails to come to an agreement to end the long-running conflict over its nuclear program.
Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack in his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night. Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington remain sharply divided over which sanctions should be lifted and when.
Iran did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new sanctions. The sanctions targeted 12 shadow fleet vessels and their owners or operators that have collectively transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products, the Treasury said. The shadow fleet refers to ships that carry oil that is under sanctions. They are typically old, their ownership opaque and they sail without the top tier insurance cover needed to meet international standards for major oil companies and many ports.
In a statement, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated, ‘Iran uses financial systems to sell illegal oil, launder the money, buy parts for its conventional and nuclear weapons programs, and fund its terrorist proxies’
(With Inputs From Reuters)
