The United States on Friday announced a fresh set of sanctions against Iran for conducting a ballistic missile test last week. The US’ treasury department will enforce restrictions on 25 individuals and companies that the Donald Trump administration claims have links to “Iran’s ballistic missile programme”, New York Times reported.
The US claims it is targeting those who provide supplies and other forms of support to the missile programme and terrorist organisations in Iran. These include 12 companies and 13 individuals.
On Tuesday, Washington had protested against Tehran’s missile test, which it said was “provocative and irresponsible”. US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had said the country’s administration would put Iran “on notice” after the test was conducted.
Iran had, however, insisted that the operation had not violated the recently signed nuclear agreement or the United Nation Security Council’s resolution on the matter. The West Asian nation had said none of its missiles can carry nuclear warheads as they have “no place in the country’s defence doctrine”.
In July 2015, Iran had signed a treaty with several countries including the United States and Britain, agreeing to reduce its atomic programme, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions imposed on it. The economic pressure applied by the world’s most powerful countries had driven Iran to sign the deal. The UN can reimpose sanctions if Iran violates the agreement in the next decade. Some sanctions have been in place since 1995.
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