The Obama administration intends to issue fresh sanctions against individuals and companies suspected of helping Iran develop its ballistic missile program, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal today.
The U.S. Treasury Department is planning to target about a dozen individuals and companies in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, according to WSJ. If the sanctions go into effect, they would be the first implemented against Iran since the country signed the nuclear agreement with the P5+1 world powers in July.
Senior U.S. officials told WSJ that the Treasury Department retains a right under the nuke deal to blacklist Iranian entities suspected to be involved with missile development.
The United Nations team that monitors sanctions said in a recently disclosed confidential report that Iran violated a U.N. Security Council resolution in October when it launched a medium-range Emad rocket capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, as Reuters reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted that none of its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, HNGN previously reported.
Nonetheless, diplomats have said that it may be possible to impose additional sanctions over the launch.
The Treasury Department is reportedly drafting sanctions concerning two Iran-linked networks involved in developing the country's missile program, and the measures would prohibit U.S. or foreign nationals from conducting business with blacklisted firms, according to WSJ. American banks would also be required to freeze any assets that the companies or individuals hold inside the U.S. financial system.
One of the companies expected to be targeted is UAE-based Mabrooka Trading Co. LLC and its founder, Hossein Pournaghshband, who have been accused of aiding Iranian state companies in acquiring carbon fiber for Tehran's missile program, according to the Treasury statement obtained by WSJ.
The Treasury is preparing sanctions against five Iranian officials at the country's Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics. Further, the Treasury says sanctions are also in response to Iran's alleged missile development activities with North Korea.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in October that "any imposition of sanctions at any level and under any pretext (including repetitive and fabricated pretexts of terrorism and human rights) on the part of any of the countries involved in the negotiations will constitute a violation of the JCPOA."
