U.S. enforces additional sanctions on Iran

The United States imposed additional sanctions on what it called Iran’s nuclear proliferation network. According to the Treasury Department, 11 companies and four individuals were banned from doing business with U.S. firms, and it publicly identified what it called front companies involved in Iran’s oil trade. The sanctions are a continuation of actions taken since 2006 against Iran to target its nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation activities.

In a news release, Treasure Undersecretary David Cohen said, “Iran today is under intense, multilateral sanctions pressure, and we will continue to ratchet up the pressure so long as Iran refuses to address the international community’s well-founded concerns about its nuclear program.” Many of the sanctions added on Thursday are designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil through fake companies that other countries may not realize are actually run by the Iranian government because of the U.S. decision.