The U.S. Treasury Department imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran’s steel industry on Tuesday (Jan. 5), continuing to intensify pressure on Tehran in the final weeks of the Trump administration.
The sanctions list includes a Chinese supplier, 12 important Iranian steel and metal products companies and an Iranian citizen, as well as three other foreign companies .
“We are taking today’s action pursuant to Executive Order 13871. The executive order imposes sanctions on a number of Iranian economic sectors, including the steel industry, that generate substantial revenues for the Iranian regime,” the Treasury Department said in the announcement.
The sanctioned Chinese company is Henan-based Kaifeng Pingcoal New Carbon Material Technology Co. The company produces graphite electrodes that are one of the key raw materials for making steel.
According to the U.S. Treasury announcement, Kaifeng Ping Coal New Carbon Materials Technology Co. has filled orders for several Iranian steel companies for a total of thousands of metric tons of the material between December 2019 and June 2020.
The sanctions list also includes 12 Iranian steel manufacturers and transportation companies. The U.S. Treasury Department said these groups are capable of producing millions of metric tons of steel products annually.
The sanctions will freeze the property of these companies and individuals in the United States and prohibit U.S. citizens and foreign financial institutions from doing business with these companies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also issued a statement on the same day stating, “The United States will continue to aggressively sanction individuals or groups that evade sanctions or otherwise fund the Iranian regime so that it can carry out its nefarious agenda of oppression and terror.”
Since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran. Last October, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on ten state-owned energy companies in Iran’s oil sector. A month later, the State Department and Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities with ties to Iran, including the Mostazafan Foundation, a charitable organization. Currently, U.S. sanctions against Iran have reached all sectors of the Iranian economy, including banking and finance, mining and metallurgy, in addition to the energy sector.
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