The U.S. State Department has sanctioned three companies in the United Arab Emirates that transport Iranian oil and gas and blocked 11 ships in response to Iran’s expansion of its nuclear program over the past month.
The sanctioned entities are Sea Route Ship Management, Almanac Ship Management and Al Anchor Ship Management.
Tehran has advanced its nuclear program “in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.
“Iran’s actions to increase its enrichment capacity are all the more concerning in light of Iran’s continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA and statements by Iranian officials suggesting potential changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine,” the statement continued.
The Washington Post reported on June 19 that an expansion was underway at Iran’s Fordow enrichment plant that could allow the regime to accumulate several bombs’ worth of nuclear fuel every month.
The new equipment was to be installed within four weeks, and similar expansion plans were underway at the main enrichment plant near the central Iranian city of Natanz, according to the report, which cited IAEA documents and European diplomats.
“In response to these continued nuclear escalations, the United States is today taking action against entities and vessels involved in the Iranian petroleum and petrochemical trade,” Blinken said on Thursday.
“We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome,” he added.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, criticized the announcement.
“You would better come back to the Vienna talks and settle all problems related to [the] nuclear sphere diplomatically through negotiations,” the Russian envoy wrote. “All other means being used by the U.S. have absolutely no chance to bring about positive results,” he said, adding, “I suspect that Washington knows it quite well.”
