The United States issued additional targeted Iran-related sanctions yesterday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week threatened further action six months into Washington’s ongoing war with Iran.
Treasury officials issued sanctions targeting one entity based in Hong Kong and one person linked to Iran’s Bank Melli, according to a notice posted on the Department of Treasury’s website.
Later yesterday, a US official told Reuters the Trump administration plans to impose limits on Egypt’s Banque Misr UAE branches for doing business with Tehran. The official said the proposed rule, if finalised, would withdraw Banque Misr UAE’s ability to process transactions through US financial institutions.
With the US focused on its economic pressure campaign, others have sought to revive diplomatic efforts to end the war. Mediators have pushed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which handled 20 per cent of world oil supplies before the war began six months ago and whose status remains the biggest obstacle to a peace deal.
Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he had stressed during talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday the importance of returning to the pre-war status of open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
With the war now at the six-month mark, and negotiations at an impasse, President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to cripple Iran financially, with what it has billed an “economic D-Day”.
The sanctions drive compounds the toll of the war on Iran’s economy, where annual inflation hit 66pc last month. The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz remains the conflict’s biggest unresolved flashpoint.
Washington has warned countries to cut their business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions, though the Treasury Department stopped short of actually imposing penalties.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday that all countries were obligated under international law to refrain from implementing US sanctions against Tehran, adding that participation in them amounted to complicity in imposing one state’s unlawful will on independent states.
It branded the new US measures a “crime against humanity” that put the health and livelihood of millions of civilians at serious risk, and called on other nations and United Nations bodies to uphold the rule of law.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured and has not been seen publicly since the February 28 attack that killed his father, said in a written statement yesterday that he had banned officials from “committing anything that harms social cohesion”.
He urged authorities to avoid any “discouraging statements that weaken national and public motivation,” amid concern among Iran’s leaders that more financial pressure on its war-battered economy could trigger protests.
Khamenei urged the government to seriously address economic and livelihood challenges, including inflation, unemployment, prices and the management of markets for goods and services.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi yesterday described the talks with Al Thani as “creative”, and he renewed his appeal to the US to stop putting military and economic pressure on his country and to resume negotiations.
“Putting diplomacy back on track isn’t impossible. It hinges on US understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn’t work,” Araqchi said on X.
Qatar, a US ally, and Pakistan helped broker a memorandum of understanding in June that led to a ceasefire but that quickly unravelled due to disagreements between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz.
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