imposes

Israel has imposed new restrictions on aid entering the besieged Gaza Strip and will not open the Rafah crossing as planned, while Israeli forces killed several people in the Palesitinian territory as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came under growing strain.

Israel notified the United Nations on Tuesday that it will only allow 300 aid trucks – half of the number it originally agreed to – daily into the Gaza Strip from Wednesday.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, confirmed the UN had received the note from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza.

The COGAT note said no fuel or gas will be allowed into the war-torn enclave except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud noted that allowing 300 trucks of aid each day was “not nearly enough” for famine-stricken Gaza.

“Three hundred is not enough. It’s not going to change anything,” he said.

Israeli authorities also announced the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will remain closed.

The restrictions came hours after Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians in attacks in northern and southern Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

At least six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City, and three others were killed in Khan Younis.

Sources from al-Ahli Arab Hospital told Al Jazeera Arabic on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it opened fire to remove a threat posed by people who approached its forces in northern Gaza.

The attacks come four days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, preparing the way for an exchange of captives and partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The ceasefire is the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed at least 67,913 people and wounded 170,134 since October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities. The remains of thousands of other people are estimated to be under the rubble in Gaza.

At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 others were taken captive.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas and Israel carried out an exchange on Monday that saw the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails and 20 Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip. Some 154 prisoners were exiled to Egypt.

Hamas was also due to return the remains of 24 dead captives on Monday, but the group only handed over four coffins.

Trump’s ceasefire plan provided a mechanism if that handover didn’t happen, saying Hamas should share information about deceased captives and “exert maximum effort” to carry out the handover as soon as possible.

Hamas said that it would transfer the remains of four more deceased Israeli captives on Tuesday, and the Israeli military said that the Red Cross had received the bodies.

The Israeli military accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire “regarding the release of the bodies of the hostages”.

Trump noted the delay in handing over the remains of the deceased captives in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase Two begins right NOW!!!” he wrote.

Hamas has previously said recovering the bodies of some captives could take more time because not all sites where they were held are known, and because of the vast Israeli destruction of the enclave.

“The headline here is, Israel is already starting to put threats of restricting aid going into Gaza for what they say is the slow work by Hamas to get the bodies of the deceased captives back to Israel,” Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said, reporting from the UN.

@ajplus

Israel unilaterally broke the last ceasefire in Gaza. AJ+ spoke to journalist and analyst Omar Rahman about what might make this deal different. #Gaza #Ceasefire #Israel #PeaceDeal #Palestine

♬ news, documentary, serious, depressing : L(1488971) – 8.864

UN urges more aid deliveries

The UN and the International Red Cross called for all crossings into Gaza to be opened to allow desperately needed aid into the enclave. The UN had 190,000 metric tonnes of aid waiting and ready to go into Gaza, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said on Tuesday.

UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires, meanwhile, said the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had 1,370 trucks ready to enter Gaza.

“The level of destruction, again, is so huge that it will take at least 600 trucks a day, which is the aim that we have,” he said. “We’re far from that.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) also stressed the need to send more aid into Gaza.

“We need to scale up the delivery of medical supplies because the pressure on hospitals is not going to ease overnight,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters.

“We need really to bring as many supplies as we can right now to make sure that those health workers who are still providing healthcare have what they need.”

The measure comes after the US added Mali to its list of African countries required to post bonds of $5,000 and $10,000.

Mali has imposed visa bond requirements on United States citizens identical to those Washington placed on Malian travellers, in a tit-for-tat response to moves that its government has condemned as a violation of bilateral agreements.

The Foreign Ministry in Bamako announced the reciprocal measures on Sunday after the US began requiring Malian nationals seeking business or tourist visas to post hefty bonds of between $5,000 and $10,000 starting on October 23.

Mali said the US programme breaches a 2005 accord guaranteeing long-term visa access between the two nations, and vowed to apply the same financial barriers to US passport holders under the principle of reciprocity.

In a statement released by its Foreign Ministry, Mali said it “has always collaborated with the United States of America in the fight against irregular immigration, with respect for law and human dignity”.

The dispute highlights escalating tensions as the administration of US President Donald Trump deploys visa restrictions as diplomatic leverage to pressure African governments on immigration enforcement and deportation cooperation.

Mali is among seven African countries facing the bond requirements under a year-long pilot scheme that the US State Department says targets nations with high visa overstay rates.

Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tanzania were also added to the programme alongside Mali in late October, while Gambia, Malawi and Zambia were added earlier.

Trump immigration moves

Travellers subject to the bonds must pay up front through a US Treasury Department portal, and can only enter and exit the US through three designated airports.

The money is refunded if visitors depart on time, but forfeited for overstays or asylum applications. Consular officers determine individual bond amounts based on applicants’ circumstances.

The US justified the pilot by citing national security concerns and US Department of Homeland Security data showing more than 300,000 business and tourist visa holders overstayed their authorised periods in 2023.

Critics warn the fees – imposed atop standard $185 visa costs – could deter legitimate travel and harm the US tourism economy ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mali said it was interested in “fruitful cooperative relations”, but was introducing the measure against US citizens attempting to travel there in the spirit of reciprocity.

The visa bonds are the latest immigration measure following months of efforts by the Trump administration to pressure African nations into accepting deportees, including those not from their own countries.

Several governments have received expelled migrants in exchange for payments or political favours, while others faced swift punishment for refusal.

Burkina Faso had all visa services suspended at its US Embassy after rejecting demands to accept third-country deportees, forcing residents to travel to neighbouring Togo for applications.

South Sudan initially had visas for all passport holders revoked following a deportation dispute, though it later accepted eight people from Asian and Latin American countries.

Eswatini agreed to receive up to 160 deportees for $5.1m in US funding, while Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda have also accepted expelled migrants under bilateral arrangements, according to diplomatic sources.

The US on Wednesday announced new sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities tied to Iran’s nuclear and weapons programs, in support of the recent “snapback” sanctions by the UN on Tehran, Anadolu reports.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that 44 individuals and entities have been designated, including five people and one entity allegedly linked to Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which he described as the successor to Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program.

The US also imposed additional export restrictions on 26 entities and three procurement-linked addresses.

“These actions highlight the importance of the September 27 re-imposition of sanctions and other restrictions on Iran pursuant to multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” Rubio said. “We will not hesitate to hold accountable anyone who supports Tehran’s proliferation activities.”

The measures come after France, Germany and the UK invoked a “snapback” mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, restoring sanctions that had been suspended since the 2015 nuclear deal.

READ: Iran slams reimposition of UN sanctions, accuses Europeans of abusing nuclear deal

Sept. 28 (UPI) — A decade after they were lifted, economic and military sanctions were reimposed on Iran Sunday over its nuclear program.

Britain, France and Germany have accused Iran of “continued nuclear escalation,” and reactivated what is known as a “snapback mechanism” over Iran’s lack of cooperation to de-escalate the country’s nuclear program.

Iran suspended inspections of its nuclear facilities under terms of a 2015 deal after Israel and the United States bombed several of the country’s nuclear sites in June.

Iranian President Masound Pezeshkian has continued to maintain that his country has no intentions of developing nuclear weapons, and made the claim again last week.

Pezeshkian has called the reimposition of sanctions “unfair, unjust and illegal,” and a setback to Iran’s fledgling relations with the West.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action limits Iran’s nuclear facilities, stockpiles of enriched uranium and the amount of research it is allowed to undertake. It allows Iran to develop nuclear infrastructure, but not weapons.

Iran escalated its nuclear program after President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA during his first term in 2018.

European negotiators told the U.N. Security Council in August that Iran had violated “the near entirety of its JCPOA commitments,” and gave the country a month’s warning to scale back its nuclear program before Russia assumed control of the Security Council in October.

Several meetings with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi have produced no progress in meeting key European demands, including evidence that Iran is working on a diplomatic solution, complying with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and disclosing the whereabouts of more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium.

The European nations have also called for resumed talks between Iran and the United States.

Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas as hundreds protest chronic power outages in the island country.

Authorities in Madagascar have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital, Antananarivo, following protests against frequent power outages and water shortages that turned violent.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Thursday to voice their anger over persistent power cuts, which often leave homes and businesses without electricity for over 12 hours. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to quash the demonstrations.

The protesters barricaded roads with rocks and burning tyres. By Thursday afternoon, there were reported incidents of looting at various retailers, appliance stores and banks across the 1.4-million-strong capital.

Several stations for the country’s new cable car system were also set on fire.

Local media reported on Thursday that three homes of politicians known to be close to President Andry Rajoelina were also attacked by protesters.

Authorities banned the demonstration on Wednesday, citing the risk of public disorder, and police patrolled the capital in large numbers from early Thursday.

“There are, unfortunately, individuals taking advantage of the situation to destroy other people’s property,” General Angelo Ravelonarivo, who heads a joint security body that includes the police and the military, said in a statement he read on privately owned Real TV late on Thursday.

To protect “the population and their belongings,” the security forces decided to impose a curfew from 7pm to 5am (16:00-02:00 GMT) “until public order is restored,” the statement said.

Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is mired in poverty, and some people blame the government of Rajoelina, who was reelected in 2023, for not improving conditions.

Some 75 percent of the country’s estimated 30 million population lived below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.

“Water and electricity are basic human needs.” “Let us speak out.” “Malagasy people, wake up.” These were some of the messages displayed on the protesters’ placards.

It was unclear how many people were injured during the rallies or whether there were any fatalities.

The protest movement, dominated mostly by the youth, started gaining traction a few days ago on social media platforms, mainly Facebook.

In the country’s provinces, unrest was also reported at the offices of the national water and electricity company, which is seen by protesters as the root of the country’s problems.

Washington’s move to double tariffs on many Indian goods poses a huge risk to India’s biggest export market.

The United States has doubled tariffs on many imports from India to 50 percent, as US President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to punish New Delhi for buying discounted Russian oil.

The steep tariffs, which came into force on Wednesday, risk inflicting significant damage on the Indian economy by threatening trade with its largest export market. India exported more than $87bn worth of goods to the US in 2024.

The Indian government, which has criticised the move as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”, estimates the tariffs will impact more than $48bn worth of exports. Indian officials warn that the new duties could make exports to the US commercially unviable, leading to job losses and slowing growth in the world’s fifth-largest economy, The Associated Press news agency reported.

The US had already slapped 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods earlier this month, as part of a wave of additional duties on goods from allies and competitors alike since Trump returned to the White House.

But the latest hike on Indian products doubles that rate, in a move to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil, which the White House argues is indirectly funding Russia’s war on Ukraine.

More than one-third of India’s crude oil imports came from Russia last year, a trade relationship that has spurred criticism from Washington. Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told reporters last week that “India doesn’t appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed” in Ukraine.

The move leaves Indian exporters facing among the highest US duties Trump has slapped on goods from overseas. Brazil is also grappling with 50 percent tariffs on many of its exports to the US.

‘Strategic shock’

Garima Kapoor, Executive Vice President and Economist at Elara Securities, told Al Jazeera that the impact would likely be felt in labour intensive industries such as textiles, garments, gems and jewellery, marine exports, some auto exports and leathers.

“All of these categories … are small and medium scale enterprise intensive. So we will see an impact being pretty severe in terms of employment.”

A New Delhi-based think tank, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), says the tariffs could eliminate India’s presence in the US.

“The new tariff regime is a strategic shock that threatens to wipe out India’s long-established presence in the US, causing unemployment in export-driven hubs and weakening its role in the industrial value chain,” Ajay Srivastava, GTRI founder and former Indian trade official, told the AP.

The US has, for now, exempted some key sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and electronic goods, from additional tariffs. The Trump administration has launched investigations into these and other sectors that could yet result in further duties.

The tariffs come as the Trump administration pushes for greater access to India’s agriculture and dairy sectors, amid Indian resistance to opening the sectors to cheaper US imports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India should not yield to the pressure.

“For me, the interests of farmers, small businesses and dairy are topmost. My government will ensure they aren’t impacted,” Modi said at a rally this week in his home state of Gujarat.

July 20 (UPI) — The Chinese government is preventing a Chinese American banker for Wells Fargo and, separately, an employee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from leaving the country, reports said Sunday.

The identity of the detained U.S. government employee was not known to the Washington Post, which first reported the news. Mao Chenyue, the managing director of Wells Fargo Credit Solutions, was confirmed as the bank employee facing the exit ban by the company in statements to The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

People familiar with the Patent and Trademark Office employee’s case told the Washington Post that he traveled to China to visit family but allegedly failed to disclose on his visa application that he worked for the government.

Wells Fargo has since reportedly suspended travel by its executives to China, noting in its statement to The New York Times that the company is tracking the situation and working “through the appropriate channels” to ensure their employee is returned.

The company did not provide any details as to why Mao was prevented from leaving the country but noted that she has not been detained in China and is free to move about the country.

“We have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact arbitrary exit bans on U.S. citizens have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted U.S. citizens to return home,” said a U.S. Embassy in Beijing spokesperson.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was asked about Mao’s exit ban on Friday but said he was not aware of it.

Her LinkedIn account, reviewed by UPI, shows that she was active on social media as recently as two weeks ago when she thanked people for congratulatory messages on her recent election as chairman of FCI.

Polish government says step aimed to check migrants more thoroughly amid public concerns over immigration.

Poland has reintroduced temporary checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania, citing a growing influx of undocumented migrants and increasing public concern over security.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the move on Monday, arguing that Warsaw needed to “redirect” migration routes that bypass barriers along the Belarusian border and instead pass through neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania.

“To redirect this stream of people, which is deflected by our barrier, but which wants to cross Poland again through the border with Latvia and Lithuania, and further into Europe,” Tusk said.

The decision came amid heightened tensions across Europe over irregular migration, with other Schengen members like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands having already taken similar steps over the past 18 months, putting strain on the European Union’s passport-free travel zone.

Germany has maintained controls on its border with Poland since 2023, but recently adopted a tougher approach, rejecting undocumented arrivals and sending them back to Poland under EU and bilateral agreements.

Polish authorities say this has placed an unfair burden on their country.

Knut Abraham, Germany’s envoy for Polish relations, warned the new checks could cause traffic congestion and disrupt trade, without curbing migration effectively. Similar concerns were raised by Rafal Gronicz, mayor of the border town of Zgorzelec, who dismissed fears of a migrant crisis as exaggerated.

“As long as I live, I have never known anyone who wanted to escape from Germany to Poland,” he told local radio. “There are no pressing waves of migrants walking around Zgorzelec.”

Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said checks on the German border will be lifted when Berlin ends its tougher controls.

“If Germany lifts its controls, we are not going to delay either,” Siemoniak said. “We want this movement to be absolutely free, that the problems of illegal migrant and migration be resolved together, without either side suffering.”

Tensions have escalated in recent weeks in Poland after a Venezuelan national was charged with murdering a 24-year-old woman in Torun. That killing triggered mass protests led by nationalist groups, with some 10,000 people marching on Sunday in her memory.

A separate incident on Saturday saw a Polish man fatally stabbed during a brawl in the northern town of Nowe. Authorities said on Monday that 13 people had been arrested – three Poles and 10 Colombians. Angry crowds gathered outside a workers’ hostel where the Colombians had been staying, state media reported.

Far-right groups have also begun patrolling Poland’s western frontier, claiming to protect the country from migrant flows. Human rights organisations condemned these vigilante efforts, warning they fuel xenophobia and undermine trust in official institutions.

“The actions of these self-proclaimed groups are the result of a radicalising political narrative,” said the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. “Debate on migration should be grounded in facts, not fear.”

The Trump administration says the cartel is responsible for a significant share of fentanyl entering the country.

The United States has imposed sanctions against five leaders of a Mexican drug cartel for killings, including the prime suspect in the murder of Mexican influencer Valeria Marquez, and drug trafficking, the US Department of the Treasury has said.

The sanctions levied on Wednesday target the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which the Trump administration says is responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illegal drugs entering the US.

The cartel is said to use murder, including the targeted killing of women, as a weapon of intimidation against its rivals.

“The vicious attack highlights the brutal prevalence of femicide, or the killing of women on account of their gender, in Mexico. Femicide often goes unpunished and affects a significant portion of Mexico’s women,”  the Treasury Department said in a statement.

In February, the Trump administration designated CJNG as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” and “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”

The cartel is led by Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who was among the five leaders named on Wednesday. The US authorities have offered a $15m reward for information leading to his capture.

A cartel commander closely linked to him, Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, was also sanctioned.

Ruiz has been identified as the prime suspect in the murder of his purported romantic partner, TikTok influencer Marquez, the Treasury Department said.

Marquez, 23, was killed in May in the beauty salon where she worked in the city of Zapopan by a man who entered and shot her as she livestreamed a video on TikTok, the Jalisco state prosecutor said.

Other leaders sanctioned include Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan and Audias Flores Silva, according to the Treasury Department statement.

June 4 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on an unspecified number of Central American government officials accused of being involved in Cuba’s medical mission program.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the punitive measure in a statement Tuesday, describing those targeted with the visa restrictions as “officials responsible for Cuban medical mission programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers.”

“These steps promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices,” Rubio said. “The Cuban labor export program abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland.”

According to the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report for Cuba, medical professionals comprise 75% of Cuba’s exported workforce, generating $4.9 billion of its total $7 billion in service exports in 2022.

The United States, citing doctors who have escaped from the program, accuses Cuba of human trafficking and worker exploitation, stating that those deployed to some 50 countries receive little or no pay, have their passports and medical credentials confiscated and have their rights restricted abroad, while also facing repercussions if they leave the program.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said the Cuban government imposes “draconian rules” on doctors deployed abroad.

The move comes after Rubio, in late February, announced that the State Department was expanding its visa restrictions policy targeting forced labor to enable the blacklisting of those linked to Cuba’s labor export programs.

Though Cuba has yet to respond to Tuesday’s move, it lashed out at the Trump administration following February’s announcement, with Havana’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the visa restrictions were “based on falsehoods and coercion.”

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said on X Tuesday that she supports Rubio’s visa ban on those who benefit from Cuba’s international medical program.

“No nation should enrich a dictatorship by exploiting its own people,” she said.

“It’s time to end these slave missions and stand with the Cuban people.”

May 14 (UPI) — For a third straight day, the United States on Wednesday issued sanctions targeting Iran as the Trump administration attempts to negotiate a new nuclear arms deal with the Middle Eastern country.

The punitive measures imposed by the Treasury Department are secondary sanctions, meaning those aimed and punishing third parties for dealing with previously designated entities, individuals and countries.

The sanctions target six individuals and 12 entities in China and Iran accused of aiding Tehran source the manufacturing of critical materials used in the Islamic state’s ballistic missile program, specifically carbon fiber materials used in the construction of intercontinental rockets.

The State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce explained in a statement that Iran is “heavily reliant on China to conduct its malign activities in the Middle East.”

The targets work with the U.S.-sanctioned elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The United States cannot allow Iran to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“The Iranian regime’s relentless and irresponsible pursuit of advanced ballistic missile capabilities, including its efforts to indigenize its production capacity, represents an unacceptable threat to the United States and the stability of the region.”

The sanctions are the third batch of Iran-targeted punitive measures that the Trump administration has imposed this week as it engages in negotiations with Iran on a new agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon — a goal long held by President Donald Trump.

In 2018, during his first term in the White House, Trump slapped sanctions on Iran and unilaterally pulled the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational accord, calling it “defective at its core.”

He pursued a so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other punitive measures, but failed to coerce Iran back to the negotiating table, and it instead advanced its nuclear weapons capability to the point the U.S. government estimated in 2022 that it would need just a week to produce enough weapons-grade highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.

In February, Trump reinstated his maximum pressure policy, which includes the recent batches of further sanctions.

The United States and Iran have had four recent negotiations on a new deal, but there does not appear to be a fifth round scheduled yet.

Trump administration officials have said a deal would see Iran dismantle its three enrichment facilities, but Iranian officials have said it will not stop enriching uranium but would be open to restrictions.

Trump is in the Middle East this week for a four-day trip, and has repeatedly voiced optimism that a deal can be made.

“I have a feeling it’s going to work out. I think it’s going to work. It’s got to work out, one way or the other we know it’s going to work out,” Trump said during a press conference Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.

Later to reporters aboard Air Force One, he was more direct with his threats against Iran.

“One way or the other. It’s very simple. It’s going to happen one way or the other. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. So, we will either do it friendly, or we will do it very unfriendly, and that won’t be pleasant,” he said.

The Trump administration has said it has sanctioned more than 250 people, entities and vessels related to Iran and its proxies since February.

May 14 (UPI) — The United States has imposed additional Iran-related sanctions, as the Trump administration negotiates with Tehran on a new nuclear weapons deal.

The sanctions announced Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury target an Iranian oil smuggling network the Trump administration accuses of generating billions of dollars for the Tehran regime’s military and proxy forces.

Fifteen front companies, buyers and facilitators in Hong Kong, mainland China, the Seychelles and Singapore were hit by the punitive measures, along with 52-year-old Iranian national Mohammad Khorasani Niasari and two shipping vessels.

The secondary sanctions were levied due to their links to Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, which the previous Biden administration blacklisted in November 2023 for overseeing the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff’s network of front companies that it uses to sell commodities, including oil, internationally — funds that are used to further Iran’s weapons and nuclear programs and other destabilizing activities.

According to Treasury officials Sepehr Energy obfuscates the origin of these oil shipments through a series of deals involving between multiple front companies it owns. Some of the entities that were blacklisted Tuesday were established in China and Hong Kong.

Among the tactics deployed to conceal the oil’s Iranian origin is the use of ship-to-ship transfers at sea before the cargo reaches China. Once in the country, Sepehr Energy relies on complicit local agencies willing to aid their sanctioned sales.

Khorasani is a financial inspector for Sepehr Energy and its affiliates and was sanctioned Tuesday for helping to manage the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff’s transactions.

“As long as Iran devotes its illicit revenues to funding attacks on the United States and our allies, supporting terrorism around the world and pursuing other destabilizing actions, we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The sanctions are the latest the Trump administration has imposed since early February when President Donald Trump resumed his so-called maximum pressure policy from his first term — an effort that failed to coerce Iran into returning to the negotiating table for a new nuclear weapons deal.

During his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions against Iran and unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational nuclear accord aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Trump applied his maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and political pressure to force Tehran to negotiate a new deal he believed would be better. Instead, the Middle Eastern country ignored its obligations under the accord and escalated its nuclear weapons program to the point where the U.S. government estimates Iran could need as little as a week to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear bomb.

However, talks about a new nuclear deal between the two countries have resumed during the Trump’s second term, with State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott telling reporters in at a Washington press conference on Tuesday that the negotiations “continue to show progress.”

There have been four rounds of informal talks with the fifth round yet to be scheduled.

Trump, speaking in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, called on Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and accept “a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future” or expect consequences. The United States under administration of both Democrats and Republicans have said they will not permit Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“I want to make a deal with Iran,” Trump said. “This is an offer that will not last forever. The time is right now to choose. We don’t have a lot of time to wait.”

The Trump administration is demanding that Iran discontinue its uranium enrichment program and dismantle its facilities. Iran has said it will not compromise on its enrichment capabilities.

On Monday, after the United States blacklisted three Iranians and a related technology firm involved in nuclear weapons research, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi suggested there was a possibility of negotiating on its enrichment allotments.

For a limited period of time, we can accept a series of restrictions on the level and volume of enrichment,” he said, state-run Press TV reported.

“We have not yet gone into details about the level and volume of enrichment.”

According to the Treasury, since Trump announced the resumption of his maximum pressure campaign, the United States has sanctioned 253 individuals, entities and vessels related to Iran and its proxies.