US penalties are targeting Iran’s “oil network” as Donald Trump promises to regain “the maximum pressure” against Tehran.
WASHINGTON, DC — The United States has imposed the first batch of sanctions against Iran since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Thursday, saying it was intended to be Iran’s “oil network.”
The measure is aimed at companies, vessels and individuals who are already affiliated with companies that are licensed by the United States. Under former President Joe Biden, the United States routinely issued such penalties to enforce existing sanctions.
“The Iranian regime focuses on using oil revenues to fund the development of nuclear programs, manufacture deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and support proxies of local terrorists. “statement.
“The United States is committed to actively targeting Iran’s attempts to secure funding for these malignant activities.”
Iran has long rejected sanctions on efforts to confiscate its oil sector and its exports as “piracy.”
The Treasury said the sanctions include “entities and individuals from multiple jurisdictions,” including China, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Thursday’s actions were two days after Trump signed an executive order to revive his pressure campaign during his first term after Trump signed an international contract with Tehran in 2018. It was done.
The multilateral agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was launched in 2015. Iran would have seen it reduce its nuclear program to lift international sanctions on its economy.
Biden tried to recover the deal, but multiple indirect talks with Iran failed to meet his goal. The Israeli war with Gaza in October 2023 further derailed diplomatic push.
The former regime ultimately maintained Iran’s sanctions and imposed more penalties on Tehran.
However, Republicans accused Biden of strictly enforcing sanctions and not halting Iran’s oil sales, particularly to China.
This week’s executive order from Trump will instruct US officials to consider and strengthen sanctions and “driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.” The Treasury’s actions on Thursday are seen as response to its demand.
Despite the new pressure campaign, Trump has kept his door open for diplomacy with Tehran, saying he is willing to reach out to Iranian officials.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful country, but it cannot have nuclear weapons,” the US president told reporters Tuesday.
Iranian leaders have denied the search for nuclear weapons, but Tehran has been increasingly enriching uranium, the main material needed to produce bombs, for years in response to US sanctions. Masu.
Israel, the US’s top ally in the Middle East, is widely believed to have undeclared nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, the State Department welcomed the US penalties and said Washington would not tolerate “destructive and unstable behaviour.”
In a statement it described Tehran’s oil exports as “illegal.” However, Iran (the sovereign country) sells its own oil.
“The revenue from these sales supports terrorists and proxy groups,” the State Department said.
Tehran has been frankly speaking in opposition to Trump’s plan to forcefully drive Palestinians out of Gaza. This is a push that legal experts say is equivalent to ethnic cleansing.
