The US Treasury Department said the United States on Wednesday, issued fresh sanctions on Iran, two days after President Donald Trump announced his planned direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program.
According to a statement, the department designated five entities and one person based in Iran for their support of Iran's nuclear program, with the aim of denying Iran a nuclear weapon.
The Treasury said the designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subordinate and the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company.
This is coming after Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that the United States and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear program but Iran's foreign minister said the discussions in Oman would be indirect.
In a further sign of the difficult path to any deal between the two geopolitical foes, Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks were unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”
The Treasury further said that the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company is crucial to Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts through the production of centrifuges.
It added that the person targeted by the new sanctions is Majid Mosallat, managing director of the Atbin Ista Technical and Engineering Company, which it said helps the company acquire components from foreign suppliers.
“The Iranian regime’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a grave threat to the United States and a menace to regional stability and global security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
