News Flash
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The US Treasury Department on Thursday issued sanctions against Iranian Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad, the latest move in President Donald Trump's drive to exert "maximum pressure" on Tehran.
The sanctions also designated three entities engaged in the Iranian oil trade in China, and named three shipping vessels as blocked property for their use in the transactions.
"The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation's vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has called for a new nuclear deal with Tehran while reinstating his "maximum pressure" policy of sanctions.
"Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda," said Bessent.
The identified vessels were used to transfer Iranian crude oil off the coast of Nipa, Indonesia, on December 25, 2024, according to the State Department.
"These entities provide services to the ghost fleet vessels... enabling Iran's attempts to disguise its illicit oil trade," US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
"Today's action advances President Trump's policy of maximum pressure on the Iranian regime."
The latest sanctions come after the Trump administration sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging negotiations and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.
Khamenei called the threats "unwise," as Iran has officially ruled out direct talks as long as sanctions remain.
During Trump's first term, which ended in 2021, Washington withdrew from the landmark 2015 deal that imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
After the Trump administration reimposed sanctions in 2018, Tehran gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments.
Iran held fresh nuclear talks in February with Britain, France and Germany following renewed engagement in November.
