The United States imposed sanctions on May 8 against 10 individuals and companies across the Middle East, China, and Eastern Europe for helping Iran’s military secure weapons and build drones and ballistic missiles.
Announced by the Department of the Treasury, the sanctions come amid a strained ceasefire with Iran while a final deal has yet to be reached, and only days before President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China to meet with regime leader Xi Jinping.
“Under President [Donald] Trump’s decisive leadership, we will continue to act to Keep America Safe and target foreign individuals and companies providing Iran’s military with weapons for use against U.S. forces,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release.
The agency said it stands by the U.S. military in taking economic action to prevent the Iranian regime from regenerating, moving, or repatriating funds, disrupting billions in oil revenue, cryptocurrency, and Tehran’s shadow banking networks.
Furthermore, the Treasury Department added that it was ready to act against foreign companies aiding illegal Iranian commerce, including airlines, and could impose more secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions helping Iran, including those connected to the CCP’s “teapot” oil refineries.
According to the department, Maarij enabled an Iranian-affiliated oil smuggler to mix Iranian oil with Iraqi oil and falsify documents on its origin before shipping it off to global markets.
Iraq’s oil ministry has denied the accusations, but Maarij has not personally commented.
“Like a rogue gang, the Iranian regime is pillaging resources that rightfully belong to the Iraqi people,” Bessent said in a Thursday post on X. “Treasury will not stand idly by as Iran’s military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners.”
Leaders of Iran-aligned terrorist groups targeted by the U.S. sanctions announced May 7 include Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada and Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq.
The sanctions are a part of Trump’s “Operation Economic Fury,” aimed at financially choking Iran, alongside military action, while trying to pressure the regime into a deal.
“While the surviving [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] leaders are trapped like rats in a sinking ship, the Treasury Department is unrelenting in our Economic Fury campaign,” Bessent said.
“We’ve had some good talks before and all of sudden the next day ... they forgot what happened,” Trump said May 6. “Look, this is very simple, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. ... And they won’t and they’ve agreed to that among other things.”
Trump has warned that if an agreement is not reached, bombing would resume “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
“We’re expecting a response from them today at some point. We have not received that yet,” Rubio said during his visit with the pope in Italy to discuss negotiations between Washington and Tehran.