The sanctions are imposed ahead of a high-level meeting between the United States and Iran on Saturday.
The Treasury imposed sanctions on entities that contributed to advancing the Iranian nuclear program.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is “designating five entities and one individual based in Iran for their support to key entities that manage and oversee Iran’s nuclear program, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the AEOI-subordinate Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA),” the executive department said in an April 9 statement.
According to the Treasury statement, “AEOI is the main Iranian organization responsible for research and development activities in the field of nuclear technology, including Iran’s centrifuge enrichment and experimental laser enrichment of uranium programs. AEOI oversees multiple Iranian companies undertaking nuclear-related work in Iran.”
As part of the sanctions to deter Iran’s nuclear program, all property of the designated entities will be blocked and reported to OFAC.
The action was undertaken as part of U.S. policy, which deters the Islamic nation from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Iran’s nuclear program, including its enrichment- and reprocessing-related capabilities and nuclear-capable missiles, poses an existential danger to the United States and the entire civilized world,” said a presidential memorandum issued by the White House earlier in February.
The sanction levied against Iranian entities was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13382, signed in 2005 by President George W. Bush, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.
AEOI was included in the executive order, with the Treasury designating TESA in 2011 as an enabler of Iran’s nuclear program.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent reiterated the threat in the latest Treasury statement.
“The Iranian regime’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a grave threat to the United States and a menace to regional stability and global security,” he said.
“Treasury will continue to leverage our tools and authorities to disrupt any attempt by Iran to advance its nuclear program and its broader destabilizing agenda.”
Iran plays a divisive force in the Middle East via funding and supplying weapons to Houthi terrorists in Yemen and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
