The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran and its ballistic missile program, saying the move is a response to Iranian strikes on Erbil, Iraq earlier this month, as well as attacks carried out by Yemen’s Houthis alleged to have been “enabled”Tehran
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department revealed that penalties were being applied to specific targets. “Iranian procurement agent”Mohammad Ali Hosseini, and other companies believed to be involved with supplying “propellant-related materials” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Today’s action follows Iran’s missile attack on Erbil, Iraq on March 13 and the Iranian enabled Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility on March 25,” the department said, claiming Tehran’s missile program poses “a serious threat to international security”While pointing out other attacks by alleged “Iranian proxies”Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
According to the IRGC, it claimed that they had attacked an Israeli settlement in Iraqi Kurdistan on March 13. “strategic center”Two Iranian officers died in an IDF attack on Syria just days before. Iraqi officials claimed that 12 missiles had been fired at Erbil. Although no one was hurt in the attack, officials from the US later pledged to keep Iran under control. “accountable”Thank you for your assistance.
A spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis, meanwhile, declared the group was behind a blast that rocked a Saudi oil depot in Jeddah on March 25. However, while the rebel faction is often said to be an Iranian ‘proxy,’ Washington has offered no evidence to suggest the strike on the oil facility was “enabled”By the Islamic Republic.
The new round of sanctions comes as Iran, the United States and its European partners attempt to revive the nuclear deal signed with Tehran in 2015, with the European Union’s foreign policy head Josep Borrell recently stating they are “very close to an agreement”Following months of negotiations. However, given that Iran’s top concerns center on sanctions relief, it remains to be seen whether Wednesday’s penalties will have any impact on the talks or complicate a final deal.
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