BURSTThe Treasury Department sanctioned 18 entities and individuals tied to revenue-generating efforts for Iran on Thursday in an effort to block the foreign government from evading previous economic restrictions implemented by the United States.
“These sanctions target how Iran has engineered banking schemes and alternate payment messaging systems specifically designed to bypass sanctions and enable it to collect export revenues, particularly from illicit petroleum sales,” the Treasury wrote in a post on the social platform X.
The move comes almost a month after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear facilities and pledged to wipe out future plans to develop weapons.
The Trump administration has cracked down on the Middle Eastern country, urging leaders to agree to limitations for its nuclear programs and stop funding terrorist attacks in the region through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“@USTreasury will continue to disrupt Iran’s sanctions evasion schemes, block its access to revenue, and starve its weapons programs of capital to protect the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in a post on X.
“As a result of President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign and increasing isolation from the global financial system, the Iranian regime is running out of places to hide,” he added.
On Wednesday, the president urged all Middle Eastern nations to join the Abraham Accords, an agreement for peace between Israel and several Arab countries.
However, Trump on Thursday slammed Iran as an “evil place,” warning against their efforts to produce weapons of nuclear war.
“Iran was the perpetrator of hate, a very evil place. And I think it’s going to be a lot different in the coming years. We have stopped wars in the Middle East by stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters.
“They can say they’re going to start all over again. But that’s a very dangerous thing for them to do, because we’ll be back as soon as they start. And I think they understand that,” he added.