The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that it has enacted sanctions against Iran’s construction sector and trade of four materials allegedly being used in connection with the regime’s nuclear, military or ballistic-missile programs.
The development is part of the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran since leaving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it, along with enacting new financial penalties against Tehran.
In a statement, the State Department said that Iran’s construction sector was controlled directly or indirectly with the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States designated as a terrorist group in April.
Simultaneously, the department extended waivers for another 90 days to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue operating at Iranian nuclear facilities despite U.S. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the extensions “will help preserve oversight of Iran’s civil nuclear program, reduce proliferation risks, constrain Iran’s ability to shorten its ‘breakout time’ to a nuclear weapon and prevent the regime from reconstituting sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes.”
