US issues new Iran-related sanctions
Treasury Department will continue to degrade Iran’s ability to produce, proliferate 'deadly weapons,' says Treasury Secretary Bessent
WASHINGTON
The US on Friday said it that it had imposed new sanctions targeting entities that have procured "sensitive machinery" for Iran’s defense industry.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated one individual and eight entities, and identified one vessel as blocked property, for their involvement in the procurement and transshipment of "sensitive machinery" for Iran’s defense industry, it said.
The vessel, the Shun Kai Xing, owned by Hong Kong-based Unico Shipping Co. Ltd., was carrying machinery for OFAC-designated Rayan Roshd Afzar Company and Towse Sanaye Nim Resanaye Tarashe, a company controlled by Rayan executives, it said.
“The United States remains resolved to disrupt any effort by Iran to procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime’s ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "We have been clear: those who enable these schemes will be held accountable.”
Bessent added the department will continue to degrade Iran’s ability to produce and proliferate "these deadly weapons, which threaten regional stability and global security.”
The fresh sanctions came eight days after Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to carry out retaliatory strikes. The strikes were launched over alleged advances in Iranian weapons technology, but Iran and even Western intelligence agencies have denied the allegations.
In a separate statement, the department said that the US is sanctioning a range of actors who have generated significant revenue for the Houthi group in 365bet籭.
It targeted four individuals, 12 entities, and two vessels that "have imported oil and other illicit goods in support of the terrorist group."
It said the agency is also targeting two vessels, as well as their owners and operators, which "violated U.S. sanctions by discharging oil derivatives to the Houthis."
"Today’s action – our most significant to date against the group – underscores our commitment to disrupting the Houthis’ financial and shipping pipelines that enable their reckless behavior in the Red Sea and the surrounding region," Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said in a statement.
The Houthis have targeted ships in the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has killed more than 50,700 people in a brutal onslaught.
More recently, they have targeted Israel over its attacks on Iran.
