U.S. Policy
On November 18, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and a patronage network controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Alavi was designated for complicity in human rights abuses, including the violent crackdown on protestors in November 2019. Security…
On November 10, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned six companies, two men and two women for supplying electronic components to an Iranian military firm. The United States and the European Union had sanctioned the firm – Iranian Communications Industries (ICI) – in 2008 and 2010, respectively. ICI was…
On October 29, the Justice Department announced that it had seized Iranian weapons bound for Yemen and sold 1.1 million barrels of Iranian oil bound for Venezuela. The government also unsealed two civil forfeiture complaints for the goods, which were intercepted in 2019 and 2020. The seizures were…
On October 29, the U.S. Treasury and the State Department sanctioned 11 companies and five individuals in Iran, China and Singapore for purchasing and selling Iranian oil. “The Iranian regime benefits from a global network of entities facilitating the Iranian petrochemical sector,” Secretary Steven…
On October 26, the United States expanded sanctions on Iran’s oil sector for supporting the Qods Force, the elite branch of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for operations abroad. “The Iranian regime continues to prioritize its support for terrorist entities and its nuclear program over the…
On October 19, the United States sanctioned six companies and two individuals based in China and Hong Kong for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL). The Iranian firm used Chinese front companies to disguise its activities. The Treasury and State Department did not…
On October 8, the Treasury sanctioned 18 major Iranian banks to cut Iran off from the global banking system and deny the regime access to foreign funds and institutions. The new sanctions are the latest step in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” to squeeze Iran into…
On September 24, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Elliott Abrams said that any future agreement with Tehran would have to cover four areas — nuclear and missile programs, support for terrorism and American detainees — and be "legally binding." "The United States is open to negotiate with Iran…
At the Council on Foreign Relations on September 21, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed broad new U.S. sanctions and stipulated that Washington would have to provide financial compensation “for damages incurred” by Iran if it wanted to reengage in the 2015 nuclear deal. “It’s nothing…
On August 21, the United States imposed visa restrictions on 14 Iranian officials involved in “gross violations of human rights on behalf of the Iranian regime.” On the annual Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that 13 were assassins who…