The United States announced on Friday new sanctions on Iran following this week's missile strikes by Tehran on US bases in Iraq.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new sanctions will target eight senior Iranian officials involved in “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East as well as Tuesday's missile strike, which came in retaliation for the US killing of senior Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike.
Mnuchin said President Donald Trump will issue an executive order imposing sanctions on anyone involved in the Iranian textile, construction, manufacturing or mining sectors. They will also impose separate sanctions against the steel and iron sectors.
“As a result of these actions we will cut off billions of dollars of support to the Iranian regime,” the treasury secretary said.
Among the senior Iranian officials targeted in the new measures were Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Iranian armed forces deputy chief of staff and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the regime.
The US Treasury also slapped sanction on 17 Iranian metals producers and mining companies which it said generated billions of dollars in revenue.
The sanctions also included a network of three entities that are based in China and the Seychelles as well as a vessel "involved in the purchase, sale, and transfer of Iranian metals products," the Treasury said in a statement.
Mnuchin said that the measures hitting Iran's economy "will continue until the regime stops the funding of global terrorism and commits to never having nuclear weapons."
The administration has already reinstated all the US sanctions that were eased under the 2015 nuclear deal, which has caused significant economic hardship in Iran and cut its oil exports to historic lows.
