New US sanctions against Iran include companies, individuals

The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced new Iran-related sanctions against petrochemical companies, shipping companies and two individuals.

The Treasury Department said the United States has sanctioned companies that help export Iranian petrochemicals, in an effort to increase pressure on Tehran to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

In a statement referring to the 2015 agreement, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bryan Nelson said: “The United States is pursuing diplomacy aimed at a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA.”

Nelson said: “In the absence of an agreement, we will continue to use sanctions powers to limit exports of oil, petroleum products and petrochemical products from Iran.”

“The United States will continue to expose the networks that Iran uses to hide its sanctions evasion activities,” he said.

Nuclear talks hosted by the Austrian capital, Vienna, stalled in part over whether Washington would remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which controls the armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of waging a global terrorist campaign, from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.