US Blacklists UAE Firms for Supporting Iran Airline

By Giuseppe Cacace

The US Treasury placed two United Arab Emirates-based companies on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday for their support of Iran's already-sanctioned Mahan Air.

UAE-based Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC "have provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air," the Treasury said.

The two companies were involved in obtaining spare parts and materials for US-made jets that Mahan operates—sanctions block Iran from freely acquiring those parts. 

Mahan, one of Iran's leading carriers, has been blacklisted under US counterterrorism regulations for its close relationship with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, which Washington says carries out terror activities in the Middle East.

Mahan Air especially has been used by the Revolutionary Guards to support the regimes of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Treasury.

"The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, as well as terrorist groups throughout the Middle East," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.

"The United States will continue to take action against those supporting this airline."

The Treasury also placed sanctions on UAE-based Iranian national Amin Mahdavi, who the Treasury said either owns or controls Parthia Cargo.

The sanctions aim at blocking those targeted from accessing global financial and commercial networks by forbidding anyone from trading with them.

In a parallel move, the US Justice Department filed criminal charges in federal court in Washington against Mahdavi and Parthia for "participating in a criminal conspiracy to violate US export laws and sanctions against Iran."

Photo: Wikicommons

US Sanctions Iranian Metal Companies, Merchants

The US Treasury Department on Thursday unveiled sanctions against the Iranian metallurgical sector, blacklisting several companies including subsidiaries of the country's main steel producer.

In a statement, Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was sanctioning four companies and four sales agents as part of a crackdown on companies believed to fund either Iran's Revolutionary Guards or the country's "destabilizing behavior" worldwide.

"The Iranian regime continues to use profits from metals manufacturers and foreign sales agents to fund destabilizing behavior around the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

"The United States remains committed to isolating key sectors of the Iranian economy until the revenues from such sectors are refocused toward the welfare of the Iranian people."

The sanctions target five subsidiaries of Iran's Mobarakeh Steel Company, which Treasury said generates one percent of the country's GDP. Four of the sanctioned are sales agents operating in either Germany or the United Arab Emirates, while one is a manufacturing subsidiary based in Iran.

Also targeted were three aluminum, steel and iron producers in Iran, which Treasury said contributed to billions of dollars in sales and exports every year.

Treasury also sanctioned a company based in China and Hong Kong for supplying graphite to Iran.

Photo: IRNA

US Hits Top Iranian Officials for Human Rights Abuses

The US government imposed sanctions on Wednesday on an Iranian government minister and senior law enforcement and military officials over human rights abuses.

"The Iranian regime violently suppresses dissent of the Iranian people, including peaceful protests, through physical and psychological abuse," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. 

"The United States will continue to hold accountable Iranian officials and institutions that oppress and abuse their own people."

The sanctions target Interior Minister and chair of Iran's National Domestic Security Council (NDSC), Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, seven law enforcement officials and an IRGC commander.

The Treasury alleged that Rahmani Fazli has issued orders authorizing Iran's Law Enforcement Force to use "lethal force in response to the November 2019 protests, resulting in violence against peaceful protestors and bystanders. His orders led to the killing of many protestors, including at least 23 minors."

Washington also targeted IRGC Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour Najafabadi, Law Enforcement Force Commander Hossein Ashtari Fard, and Deputy Commander Ayoub Soleimani.

The sanctions block all US assets and property of the officials and prevent US financial institutions from dealing with them. 

The steps also have implications for foreign banks and businesses which can run afoul of US authorities if they engage in transactions with sanctioned officials or firms.

The State Department also sanctioned Rahmani Fazli for "his involvement in gross violations of human rights," barring him and his family from entering the United States.

The US government said the LEF was "responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses that have occurred since the disputed June 2009 presidential election and ensuing protests."

The LEF also operates detention centers associated with physical and psychological abuses, and was implicated in the torture and drowning of Afghan nationals attempting to cross into Iran, according to the US government.

Photo: IRNA

US Targets UAE-Based Firms for Shipping Iranian Oil

The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five companies based in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly shipping oil from Iran in defiance of President Donald Trump's unilateral sanctions.

The Treasury Department said that the five companies bought hundreds of thousands of metric tons' worth of oil last year from Iran's state oil company, declaring it to be from Iraq or otherwise disguising its origin.

The sanctions mark a rare US action against firms in the UAE, a close ally of Washington in its campaign against Tehran but also a major trading hub with a significant Iranian expatriate community.

"The Iranian regime uses revenues from petroleum and petrochemical sales to fund its terrorist proxies, like the IRGC-QF, instead of the health and well-being of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

He was referring to the Revolutionary Guards' elite Qods force, whose commander, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike in January at Baghdad's airport.

The sanctions will block any US assets of the five companies and prohibit any transactions with them.

The five companies are Petro Grand FZE, Alphabet International DMCC, Swissol Trade DMCC, Alam Althrwa General Trading LLC and Alwaneo LLC Co.

Trump in 2018 bolted from an internationally backed deal under which Iran scaled back its nuclear program and demanded that all countries stop buying the cleric-ruled nation's oil, its key export.

With the notable exception of China, most countries have reluctantly stopped buying oil from Iran for fear of punishment from the United States.

Trump, who is closely allied with Iran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, has vowed to curb Tehran's regional influence.

Photo: Wikicommons

U.S. to Impose Sanctions on Iran’s Metal Exports and Leaders

By Jordan Fabian and Kevin Cirilli

The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran on Friday, including penalties on the Islamic Republic’s metals and some senior leaders, following Tehran’s attack on U.S. military bases.

The sanctions target the nation’s steel industry, as well as eight senior Iranian officials and other sectors of the economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

“We want Iran to simply behave like a normal nation,” Pompeo said at the White House.

The move comes one day after President Donald Trump said Iran would be sanctioned “immediately” for the airstrikes against two U.S. military installations in Iraq, which resulted in no casualties.

The administration first prepared the sanctions in December, before tensions escalated between the U.S. and Iran, leading to the Jan. 2 U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The new measures are aimed at cracking down on Iran’s few remaining sources of export revenue and squeezing the nation’s economy to force its leaders back into negotiations for a new nuclear agreement.

Tehran has repeatedly rebuffed the Trump administration’s overtures to talk, even as existing sanctions have crippled the Iranian economy. Yet President Hassan Rouhani has confronted street protests against price increases and corruption that has left his government politically vulnerable, potentially benefiting hardliners even more opposed to Washington.

Guidance from the State and Treasury Departments will warn ship insurers, banks, charter companies, port owners, crews and captains that they all face sanctions exposure if they can’t account for the legitimacy of the cargoes they carry.

The administration is seeking to close a significant loophole that allows Iran and other nations to avoid sanctions: ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil, refined petroleum and other goods.

Trump on Wednesday attempted to lower tensions with Iran by standing down from further military actions that could have sparked a new war in the Middle East.

Trump and top administration officials have said they are open to new talks with Tehran, but Iranian leaders have not been eager to reciprocate.

Photo: Wikicommons

US Sanctions Iran Minister Over Internet Censorship

The US Treasury slapped punitive sanctions on Iran's communications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Friday after Tehran blocked internet communications amid violent protests triggered by a petrol price hike.

"We are sanctioning Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology for restricting internet access, including to popular messaging applications that help tens of millions of Iranians stay connected to each other and the outside world," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.

"Iran's leaders know that a free and open internet exposes their illegitimacy, so they seek to censor internet access to quell anti-regime protests," Mnuchin said.

The protests erupted across the country on November 15, after the price of petrol was raised by as much as 200 percent.

Officials have confirmed five deaths, while Amnesty International said that more than 100 demonstrators were believed to have been killed after authorities reportedly used live ammunition to quell the protests, which brought attacks on police stations and petrol stations and some looting of shops.

The Treasury said Azari Jahomi is a former official of the Ministry of Intelligence who has “been involved in surveillance against opposition activists," the Treasury said.

Internet service remained mostly blocked on Friday for a sixth day, with officials and news agencies saying the blackout was gradually being rolled back.

The sanctions would freeze financial assets and property Azari Jahomi has in US jurisdictions and forbid Americans or US businesses, especially banks, from dealing with him.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump accused Iran of blocking the internet to cover up "death and tragedy" resulting from the protests.

"Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country," Trump tweeted.

"They want ZERO transparency, thinking the world will not find out the death and tragedy that the Iranian Regime is causing!" he wrote.

Photo: IRNA

Pompeo Says U.S. Working on Diplomacy After Iran ‘War’ Act

By Mark Niquette

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the U.S. is “working diligently” toward a diplomatic resolution with Iran after accusing the Islamic Republic of attacks on Saudi Arabian oil fields, but that President Donald Trump is prepared to take other action if necessary.

“Make no mistake about it, if we’re unsuccessful in that and Iran continues to strike out in this way, I am confident that President Trump will make the decisions necessary to achieve our objectives,” Pompeo said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, one of multiple TV appearances ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Trump and the U.S. is working toward a diplomatic resolution with Iran, but also that the "Iranians are blood-thirsty and looking for war" in his TV rounds on Sunday

Top Pentagon officials on Friday said the U.S. will send a “moderate” number of troops to the Middle East and additional missile defense capabilities to Saudi Arabia in response to last weekend’s attack on oil facilities, which disrupted about 5% of global oil production.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif refused to rule out military conflict in the Middle East, saying in an interview Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “I’m not confident that we can avoid a war.”

Asked whether he’s confident of avoiding a war, Pompeo said, “we’re working towards that.” In a interview airing on CBS, Pompeo said the U.S. will respond in a way that reflects what he called “an attack by Iran on the world” and a “state-on-state act of war.” He said the U.S. is looking for a diplomatic resolution, while “apparently the Iranians are blood-thirsty and looking for war.”

Pompeo said the U.S. maximum-pressure campaign, which includes sanctions on Iran’s central bank and sovereign-wealth fund, is working and that the Iranian economy will shrink by about 10% to 15% this year.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said there’s still room for more sanctions.

“Although we’re pretty much maxed out on Iran, we will begin to sanction third-party entities where we see violations,” he said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that economic sanctions aren’t enough because Iranians “would eat grass if that’s what it took” and that military action is also needed. He suggested targeting Iran’s oil refineries and that Iran knows it would never win a war with the U.S.

“I don’t want a war with Iran, but I want them to stop, and the only way they’re going to stop is to pay a price,” Graham said. “And the price I want them to pay is to lose some of their military capability.”

Photo: State Department

Iran Says Sanctions Show US 'Afraid' of Top Diplomat

By Amir Havasi

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday mocked a US decision to impose sanctions on his top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying it showed Washington was "afraid" of him as tensions again flare between the arch-enemies.

The US Treasury said the sanctions would freeze any of Zarif's assets in the United States or controlled by US entities, as well as squeeze his ability to function as a globe-trotting diplomat.

"They are afraid of our foreign minister's interviews," Rouhani said in a televised speech, referring to a recent round of interviews Zarif gave to foreign media in New York.

"It is completely clear that the foundations of the White House have been shaken by the words and logic of an informed, devoted and diplomatic individual.

"They are doing childish things now," Rouhani said on a visit to the northwestern city of Tabriz.

"Our enemies are so helpless that they have lost the ability to act and think wisely."

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards called the designation "absurd" and thanked Zarif for his service.

"Americans have once again shown their anger at the Islamic Revolution's inspiring... discourse and made evident their enmity towards Iran's system and proud nation," said a statement on the Guards' official website.

The designation of Zarif under the same sanctions already applied to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the latest in a series of US moves against Iran.

‘Maximum Pressure'

Zarif is expected to be able to continue to visit the United Nations in New York, albeit under tight restrictions.

"Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran's supreme leader, and is the regime's primary spokesperson around the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

"The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behaviour is completely unacceptable."

The arch-foes have been locked in a battle of nerves since President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal placing limits on Iran's nuclear programme and began reimposing sanctions.

The situation has worsened since the Trump administration stepped up its campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran this year, with drones downed and tankers mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters.

But in a mixed message to Tehran, Washington on Wednesday extended waivers for three Iranian civil nuclear projects, to avoid upsetting the other parties to the 2015 agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

"This is a short 90-day extension," said White House national security adviser John Bolton, a champion of the hawkish policy towards Iran.

"We are watching those nuclear activities very closely, they remain under daily scrutiny," he told Fox Business.

Zarif has been at the heart of complex talks with foreign capitals over Iran's nuclear power industry, which Tehran says is peaceful, but Washington and regional allies including Israel insist is cover for a secret weapons programme.

Freedom of Speech

But a senior Trump administration official said Zarif's diplomatic image—bolstered by his fluent English, self-effacing humor and US academic background—was false.

"The key issue is that he has had this veneer... of being the sincere and reasonable interlocutor for the regime. Our point today is that he is no such thing," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Today President Trump decided enough was enough," the official said, accusing Zarif of functioning as "propaganda minister, not foreign minister".

Zarif shot back, tweeting that the United States was trying to silence Iran on the international stage.

"The US' reason for designating me is that I am Iran's 'primary spokesperson around the world' Is the truth really that painful?" he wrote.

"We know that calling for dialog & peace is an existential threat to #B_Team," he added, referring to Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others pushing a hard line on Iran.

Other Iranian officials echoed Zarif's comments.

"America is not only afraid of Iran's missiles but also of Iran talking," Abbas Ali Kadkhodayi, spokesman for Iran's law-vetting Guardian Council, said on Twitter.

Photo: IRNA

Mnuchin Warns Europe Not to Breach U.S. Sanctions on Iran

By Saleha Mohsin

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made clear that participating in the U.S. financial system means abiding by its sanctions amid a European effort to sidestep American economic pressure on Iran to continue trade.

Germany, France and the U.K. created a trade vehicle known as INSTEX in January to allow companies to do some trade with Iran without the use of U.S. dollars or American banks—thus allowing them to get around wide-ranging American sanctions that were imposed after the Trump administration abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last year.

“We’ve been very clear that we expect U.S. sanctions to be adhered to,” Mnuchin said in response to questions from reporters on Thursday in France where he met with Group of Seven counterparts. “Whether it’s Iran or anyone else, if people want to participate in the dollar system people will be obligated to follow the U.S. sanctions.”

He said that INSTEX should be “careful on diligence.”

Treasury’s top sanctions official, Sigal Mandelker, sent a letter in May warning European allies not to violate sanctions through Instex. Mnuchin confirmed that a letter was sent.

European countries broadly opposed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord but have struggled to deliver the economic benefits Iran expected from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, since the U.S. quit. In the meantime, U.S. sanctions have delivered a blow to Iran’s economy, fueling inflation, reducing oil revenue and pressuring President Hassan Rouhani’s government. INSTEX was supposed to help address that, but so far it has largely failed to get up and running.

Frustrated at the U.S. withdrawal and stalled European efforts, Iran has already breached some of the limits on its nuclear program imposed under the deal, and has warned European governments that it will give up on the accord entirely unless they can find some way to work around the U.S. sanctions.

Photo: White House

UN Concerned at US Limits on Iran FM's Access

The United Nations voiced concern Monday after the United States imposed unusually harsh restrictions on the movements of Iran's foreign minister, who was visiting the world body and also speaking on the soaring tensions between the countries.

Weeks after the United States threatened sanctions against Zarif, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington issued him a visa but forbade him from moving beyond six blocks of Iran's UN mission in Midtown Manhattan.

"US diplomats don't roam around Tehran, so we don't see any reason for Iranian diplomats to roam freely around New York City, either," Pompeo told The Washington Post.

"Foreign Minister Zarif, he uses the freedoms of the United States to come here and spread malign propaganda," he said.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that the UN Secretariat was in contact with the US and Iranian missions about Zarif's travel restrictions and "has conveyed its concerns to the host country."

The United States, as host of the United Nations, has an agreement to issue visas promptly to foreign diplomats on UN business and only rarely declines.

Washington generally bars diplomats of hostile nations from traveling outside a 40-kilometer (25-mile) radius of New York's Columbus Circle.

Zarif is scheduled to speak Wednesday at the UN Economic and Social Council, which is holding a high-level meeting on sustainable development.

Even from the confines of the mission, Zarif—a US-educated academic who speaks fluent English sprinkled with self-effacing humor—sought to take his message to the media, as is his wont on UN trips.

The Iranian mission tweeted photos of Zarif speaking to NBC News as well as the BBC.

Despite the restrictions, the decision to admit Zarif is the latest sign that President Donald Trump's administration appears to be retreating from its vow to place sanctions on Zarif as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on June 24 that sanctions against Zarif would come later that week.

Critics questioned the legal rationale for targeting Zarif and noted that sanctions would all but end the possibility of dialogue—which Trump has said is his goal.

Zarif said in an interview with The New York Times he would not be affected by sanctions as he owns no assets outside of Iran.

Trump last year left a denuclearization accord negotiated by Zarif with six nations including the United States under former president Barack Obama and instead imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran's economy, vowing to curb Tehran's regional role.

With tensions escalating, Trump ordered military strikes on Iran last month after it shot down a US spy drone, although he canceled the operation at the 11th hour, saying it would be disproportionate.

No US diplomats are based in Iran as the two countries broke off relations in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Western-oriented shah.

Photo: IRNA

US Blacklists Iraq Firm as Revolutionary Guard Guns Front

The US Treasury placed Iraq-based South Wealth Resources on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday, saying the company is an important weapons trafficking and financial front for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Treasury said the company, Manabea Tharwat al-Janoob General Trading Company, was used by the IRGC to smuggle "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth" of weapons to IRGC allies in Iraq. 

South Wealth Resources has also helped move millions of dollars to Iraq "for illicit financial activity benefitting" the IRGC and Iraq militias it supports.

The company and two Iraqis who worked with it were placed on the US sanctions blacklist, which seeks to lock them out of the international financial system by forbidding Americans and companies with US units, 
particularly banks, from doing business with them.

The company and the two Iraqis, Makki Kazim Abd Al Hamid Al Asadi and Muhammed Husayn Salih al-Hasani, were also placed on the US State Department's list of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists." 

"Treasury is taking action to shut down Iranian weapons smuggling networks that have been used to arm regional proxies of the IRGC Qods Force in Iraq, while personally enriching regime insiders," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. 

"The Iraqi financial sector and the broader international financial system must harden their defenses against the continued deceptive tactics emanating from Tehran in order to avoid complicity in the IRGC's ongoing sanctions evasion schemes and other malign activities," he said.

Photo: Wikicommons