US announces new Iran sanctions despite ongoing nuclear talks

The US government has announced new sanctions targeting Chinese and Iranian firms and individuals despite the ongoing nuclear talks with Tehran.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement on Tuesday that it had imposed sanctions on six entities and six individuals for their alleged role in procuring ingredients needed in Iran’s ballistic missile program.

The designation targeted five China-based companies, one Iran-based firm, and six Iran-based people, which OFAC said had been involved in the procurement from China to Iran of sodium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate, the ingredients it said were usable in solid propellant rocket motors.

The Iranian firm and its related people included in the blacklist were identified as Saman Tejarat Barman Trading Company, Abed, Hamed and Zahra Zargar, Forough Modarres, Abbas Pour Kazemi, and Mohammad Asgari.

The five Chinese forms were Shenzhen Amor, Dongying, Yanling Chuanxing Chemical Plant, China Chlorate Tech, and Yanling Lingfeng Chlorate.

The new sanctions are the eighth such action taken by the US government against Iran since February 4, when US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on the country.

They come despite the fact that Iran and the US have held three rounds of reportedly positive talks since early April to settle disputes about Tehran’s nuclear program. The indirect talks have been held in Oman’s capital, Muscat, and in Italy’s Rome under Oman’s mediation.

The sanctions come days after a huge explosion in Iran’s southern port of Shahid Rajaee, which media outlets based in the US and Europe claimed could have been caused by sodium perchlorate stored in the port’s dockyards.

The Iranian defense ministry has vehemently denied the reports, saying it has never used the Shahid Rajaee port for imports of sensitive materials.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk