US penalties target Iran’s ‘oil network’ as Donald Trump pledges to bring back ‘maximum pressure’ against Tehran.
Washington, DC – The United States has imposed the first batch of sanctions against Iran since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, as the US president pushes to reimpose “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
The US Treasury announced the sanctions on Thursday, saying that they are aimed at Iran’s “oil network”.
The measures targeted firms, ships and individuals affiliated with companies already sanctioned by the US. Under former US President Joe Biden, the US routinely issued such penalties to enforce existing sanctions.
“The Iranian regime remains focused on leveraging its oil revenues to fund the development of its nuclear program, to produce its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and to support its regional terrorist proxy groups,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities.”
Iran has long rejected sanctions against its oil sector and efforts to confiscate its exports as “piracy”.
The Treasury said the sanctions include “entities and individuals in multiple jurisdictions”, including China, India, and the United Arab Emirates.
Thursday’s action comes two days after Trump signed an executive order to revive his pressure campaign against Iran, which he started during his first term after nixing the nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018.
The 2015 multilateral agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international sanctions against its economy.
Biden tried to restore the deal, but multiple rounds of indirect talks with Iran failed to achieve his goal. That diplomatic push was derailed with the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
The former administration kept Iran sanctions in place and imposed many more penalties against Tehran.
But Republicans often accuse Biden of failing to rigorously enforce the sanctions and halt Iranian oil sales – particularly to China.
Trump’s executive order directs US officials to review and tighten the sanctions to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero”.
Despite the decree, Trump has kept the door open for diplomacy with Tehran, saying that he is willing to reach out to Iranian officials.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful country, but one that cannot have a nuclear weapon,” the US president told reporters on Tuesday.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran has been increasingly enriching uranium – the main material needed to produce a bomb – for years in response to US sanctions.
Israel, the top US ally in the Middle East, is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
On Thursday, the State Department welcomed the US penalties, saying that Washington will not tolerate “destructive and destabilizing behavior”.
In a statement, it described Tehran’s oil exports as “illicit”. But Iran – a sovereign country – is selling its own oil.
“Proceeds of these sales support terrorist and proxy groups,” the State Department said.
Tehran has been outspoken in opposing Trump’s plan for forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza – a push that legal experts say would amount to ethnic cleansing.