U.S. continues to punish Iran as it puts new sanctions on the Iranian Shipping Network.
The Trump administration implemented sanctions on an intricate shipping network that Iran uses to sell oil. Also revealed a $15 million prize to anyone with data that disrupts the system. This is increasing its efforts to exert stress on the Iranian economy.
The sanctions were the latest in a flurry of actions taken by the US in recent days to further isolate Iran. U hopes to make Iran return to the bargaining table to renegotiate an international agreement over its nuclear program.
President Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reinstated sanctions to limit Iranian oil sales, raising tensions with countries in Europe and Asia that rely on Iran for energy.
The Treasury Department has put sanctions on 26 persons and entities affiliated with the IRG Corps Quds Force, which the US has reported to have shipped $500 million of Iranian oil in the last year.
Sanctions freeze any property kept in the US by those associated with the shipping network and ban them from doing company with the US. The intervention also defines 11 vessels. they put anyone who possesses or runs them on the Treasury list and reveal any port that allows them to enter, or companies that fuel or unload them, to potential sanctions.
About the Iranian Shipping Network
Iran’s former oil minister, manages the shipping network and the United States said they used it to promote cash to Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The US believes Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization, even though members of the community have been incorporated into lawful components of the Government of Lebanon.
“Iran continues to take aggressive action to destabilize the region and the globe,” Secretary of State Steven Mnuchin said in a declaration. “Our activities over the last two decades should serve as a powerful alert to anyone who considers promoting the sale of oil by the Quds Force that there will be swift implications.”
Meanwhile, As the United States stepped up sanctions pressure, Iran seemed to pursue its own high-pressure approach.
Source: NYT
