US issues new sanctions on Iran

The United States today issued fresh sanctions on Iran, the Treasury Department said, two days after President Donald Trump announced the US planned direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear programme, Reuters reports.

The department designated five entities and one person based in Iran for their support of Iran’s nuclear programme, the Treasury said in a statement.

The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran and its subordinate, the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, the Treasury said.

The action comes after Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that the United States and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, claims denied by Iran’s foreign minister who said the discussions in Oman would be indirect.

Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks were unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”

The Iran Centrifuge Technology Company is crucial to Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts through the production of centrifuges, the Treasury said in a statement.

The person targeted by the new sanctions is Majid Mosallat, managing director of the Atbin Ista Technical and Engineering Company, which the Treasury said helps the company acquire components from foreign suppliers.

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