US targets Iran’s defense industry with sanctions as Trump weighs strikes
The Treasury Department also announced sanctions targeting the illicit oil trade of the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump weighs military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, his administration on Friday announced new sanctions targeting entities it says procured sensitive machinery for the Iranian defense industry.
The sanctions come a day after Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether to intervene given the “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran. On Friday, European ministers met with their Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in the Swiss city of Geneva in an effort to de-escalate the conflict and persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.
The tranche of new US sanctions is meant to disrupt the clandestine shipment of sensitive, dual-use goods to Iran. The Treasury Department designated Shun Kai Xing, a vessel owned by Hong Kong–based Unico Shipping, that is accused of carrying machinery for the Rayan Roshd Afzar Company.
The Iran-based company was previously hit with sanctions for allegedly producing technical components for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ armed drone program. Also targeted was Towse Sanaye Nim Resanaye Tarashe, a company the department said was controlled by Rayan Roshd Afzar executives.
