Today, Wednesday, the United States targeted Iran's ballistic missile program with new sanctions, amid news of Israel's demand that Washington raise the level of sanctions against Russia, despite talk of a close understanding to revive the nuclear agreement.
The new sanctions target Iran's Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his "network of companies" as suppliers of Iran's ballistic missile program, freezing their potential assets in the United States and preventing them from accessing the American financial system.
In a statement, Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Brian Nelson said that Hosseini, a purchasing agent based in Iran, had purchased through his companies materials related to ballistic missile propulsion for a unit of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for research and development of ballistic missiles.
The statement indicated that the sanctions also target the Iranian company Parchin Chemical Industries.
Nelson stressed that these measures show that the United States "will not hesitate to target those who support Iran's ballistic missile program," adding, "We will also work with other partners in the region to hold Iran accountable for its actions, especially its flagrant violations of the sovereignty of its neighbors."
The Treasury Department explained that these measures come in the wake of the missile attack launched by Iran on the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan on March 13th.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attack, stressing that it targeted a "strategic center" for Israel in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The sanctions come at a time when the United States appears close to reviving the nuclear agreement with Iran in the ongoing negotiations in Vienna, where Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Iran and world powers are a few days or perhaps weeks away from reaching an agreement, according to the agency. Russian media.
On the other hand, the Axios website quoted Israeli officials as saying that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Iran could be deterred from moving towards uranium enrichment to the level of 90%, if it knew that sanctions against it would reach the level of sanctions against Russia.
Bennett also said that the nuclear deal would give Tehran billions that it would then use for its regional activities.
According to Israeli officials, Tel Aviv assured Blinken that it had taken steps not to circumvent Western sanctions against Russia.
Several days ago, the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, said he was not confident that a nuclear deal between Western powers and Iran was imminent.