US steps up sanctions as Mideast attacks flare

AFP | Washington

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The United States issued new Iran-related sanctions yesterday, taking aim at the procurement of machinery for the country’s defense industry at a time when war is flaring in the Middle East.

The US Treasury Department said it was targeting an individual and eight entities over their roles in the sourcing and transshipment of “sensitive machinery for Iran’s defence industry.”

“The United States remains resolved to disrupt any effort by Iran to procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime’s ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement.

He added that Treasury would continue to target Iran’s ability to make and proliferate such weapons, “which threaten regional stability and global security.”

The action comes as conflict is heating up in the Middle East. Iran has been firing daily missile salvos at Israel for the past week, since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear installations and military bases triggered war.

The Treasury’s latest targets included Iranian firm Towse Sanaye Nim Resanaye Tarashe and Hong Kong-based Unico Shipping Co, whose vessel was carrying machinery for a designated company.

In a separate statement, the Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions directed at Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels as well -- on four individuals, 12 entities and two vessels that imported oil and other illicit goods in support of the group.

“The Houthis rely on a series of front companies and trusted facilitators to clandestinely generate revenue, procure weapons components, and advance their reign of terror in partnership with the Iranian regime,” said US Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender.

He said the latest move was the department’s “most significant to date against the group.”

In a separate statement, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce added that Washington seeks to deprive the Huthis of “resources they need to carry out their reckless and destabilizing actions.”