The United States has again issued new sanctions on Iran’s defense ministry and others involved in its nuclear and weapons program to support the US assertion that all UN sanctions against Tehran are now restored, which key European allies as well as Russia and China reject.
But in a swift reaction, Iran said the new US sanctions, which targeted 27 Iranian entities and people in the nuclear, missile and conventional arms sectors, would have no effect, accusing the world power of seeking publicity.
It was disclosed that the latest sanctions include a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting those who buy or sell Iran conventional arms.
Announcing the development, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had put new sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro under the order, accusing Iran and Venezuela of having worked “to flout the UN arms embargo” for nearly two years.
It was stated that under the same order, the United States also imposed penalties on Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, as well as its Defense Industries Organization and its director, Mehrdad Akhlaghi-Ketabchi.
Others targeted under different programs include senior Atomic Energy Organization of Iran officials as well as people associated with its liquid propellant ballistic missile organization, Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.
It should be noted that under the 2015 nuclear deal, the UN conventional arms embargo is to set to expire on October 18, shortly before the November 3 US presidential election.
“No matter who you are, if you violate the UN arms embargo on Iran, you risk sanctions,” Pompeo told a news conference.
The United States, which abandoned the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and subsequently restored its own bilateral sanctions, says it triggered a “snap back,” or resumption, of all UN sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo, on Saturday.
Other parties to the nuclear deal and most UN Security Council members have reportedly said the US move has no legal effect.
In his remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif brushed aside the announcement as “nothing new.”
“The United States has exerted all the pressure it could on Iran. It had hoped that these sanctions will bring our people into their knee. It did not,” Zarif, speaking from Tehran, told a virtual meeting of the US Council on Foreign Relations.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency had said Iran is enriching uranium only up to 4.5 percent, well below the 20 percent it achieved before the 2015 agreement, let alone the roughly 90 percent purity that is considered weapons-grade.
