On Tuesday, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on companies and individuals based in Iran and China over their alleged role in procuring missile “propellant ingredients” for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Iran’s aggressive development of missiles and other weapons capabilities imperils the safety of the United States and our partners,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on the sanctions.
The administration has maintained its so-called “maximum pressure campaign” against Tehran by adding new sanctions on Iran and threatening potential military action despite the negotiations it has held with Iranian officials.
Last week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the increasing US sanctions amid the effort at diplomacy shows a lack of goodwill.
“The continued imposition of sanctions against various economic sectors of Iran is in clear contradiction with the US claim for dialogue and negotiation and indicates the lack of goodwill and seriousness of the US in this regard,” said Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
So far, the US and Iran have held three rounds of negotiations, but it remains unclear if a deal will be reached. Publicly, US officials have repeatedly called for an agreement that would eliminate Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program, which is a non-starter for Iran. But since negotiations continue to advance, it’s likely the US is not making that demand behind the scenes.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if a deal isn’t reached, even though there’s no evidence Tehran is working to build a nuclear weapon, a fact recently reaffirmed by US intelligence agencies.
Israel, which has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear warheads, has been trying to influence Trump to demand the complete dismantlement of Tehran’s civilian nuclear program and wants US support for an attack on Iran.
