The United States announced new sanctions on Friday targeting a network involved in moving Iranian oil, the State Department said, according to Politico.
The move sanctions 15 entities, 14 vessels and two individuals. According to the State Department, the action targets Tehran’s “shadow fleet," a covert shipping network that the Trump administration says enables Iran to evade sanctions.
The department said the income generated is used to fund terrorist groups and destabilize the region.
“Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran," it said.
The sanctions were announced as US and Iranian officials held talks in Oman on Friday. The discussions were mediated by Omani officials and aimed at easing rising tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran rejected US calls to halt its uranium enrichment during the indirect talks.
A regional diplomat briefed by Iran later confirmed to Reuters that the Islamic Republic rejected US calls to halt uranium enrichment on its territory, but said it was willing to discuss the “level and purity" of enrichment or a regional consortium.
The diplomat added that Tehran believed the US negotiators “seemed to understand Iran’s stance on the enrichment … and they showed flexibility about Tehran’s demands."
President Donald Trump has issued repeated threats toward Iran over its nuclear activities and over violence by Iranian leadership targeting protesters. US officials said Washington will continue taking action against Iran as long as it violates restrictions on energy exports.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)