US imposes Iran-related sanctions on individuals, entities

The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed Iran-related sanctions on several individuals and entities, including some based in China and Singapore.

The Department of Treasury made the announcement on Thursday in a statement on its website just days before the November 3 election between Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated eight entities for their involvement in the sale and purchase of Iranian petrochemical products brokered by Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), an entity designated by Treasury in January 2020. These entities, based in Iran, China, and Singapore, engaged in transactions facilitated by Triliance or otherwise assisted Triliance’s efforts to process and move funds generated by the sale of those petrochemical products,” the Treasury statement said.

Iran “benefits from a global network of entities facilitating the Iranian petrochemical sector,” said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

The Trump administration returned the sanctions in 2018 after leaving a historic and internationally-lauded nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

Departure from the deal -- that is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- and restoration of the bans both constituted illegal actions because they came in absolute disregard for the fact that the JCPOA has been ratified by the United Nations Security Council. The illegal measures were also marked by sheer unilateralism as they violated the international nature of the deal that has the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany as its other parties.

In September, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran after it had failed to garner support for its anti-Iran move at the United Nations.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions would target Iran’s Defense Ministry and the country’s Atomic Energy Organization on September 21, a day after Washington unilaterally declared that all UN sanctions against Tehran were re-instated.

Pompeo announced that all UN sanctions against Iran were "back in effect" under the “snapback” provision in the JCPOA.

US goes it alone after UN rejects demand to restore Iran sanctions

The United States has imposed new unilateral sanctions against Iran after it failed to garner support for its anti-Iran move at the United Nations.

The claim came 30 days after Pompeo notified the UN Security Council of what he called Iran’s “significant non-performance” with its obligations under the JCPOA – from which Trump withdrew in May 2018.

Following Pompeo's announcement, the three European signatories to the JCPOA said in a statement that the US claim has no legal effect.

The United Nations secretary-general, for his part, said “uncertainty” prevents him from taking any action on a US declaration that all UN sanctions have been reinstated against Iran.

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