WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday announced a fresh round of sanctions against individuals and entities that Washington says finance Tehran’s military, the US Treasury Department said on Tuesday.
The US Treasury Department stated that the sanctioned individuals and entities facilitated financial transactions—including proceeds from the sale of Iranian oil—that directly support Iran’s military apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)–Quds Force, and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).
“Iranian ‘shadow banking’ networks like these—run by trusted illicit financial facilitators—abuse the international financial system, and evade sanctions by laundering money through overseas front companies and cryptocurrency,” it said in a statement.
US sanctions generally bar American individuals and companies from engaging in any business with those targeted.
In June of this year, the United States imposed another round of Iran-related sanctions, this time focusing on the procurement of machinery for Iran’s defense industry.
The US Treasury Department announced it was targeting one individual and eight entities involved in sourcing and transshipping sensitive equipment intended to support Iran’s military capabilities.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran remain stalled. Earlier this month, Iran stated that while the door to nuclear negotiations with the United States remains open, US demands for restrictions on Iran’s ballistic and hypersonic missile programmes continue to hinder any meaningful progress.
Talks between the two countries reached a standstill after a sixth round of negotiations was suspended, following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.
