Feb. 3 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced new economic sanctions against Iran on Friday for a ballistic missile test the United States views as a violation of a U.N. resolution.
Fourteen people and 12 entities, described by the Treasury as “networks and supporters of Iran’s ballistic missile procurement” and “five individuals and entities that are part of an Iran-based procurement network connected tAll Postso Mabrooka Trading,” were cited. Those named will have assets blocked and U.S. citizens are prohibited from engaging in business with them.
The sanctions came after Iran acknowledged it test-fired a ballistic missile Sunday, but insisted the missile was not capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and thus was not in violation of a the U.N. resolution prohibiting such firings. It was the second test-firing of an Iranian missile since the Resolution 2231 came in force, and the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
The sanctions came two days after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said “as of today we are officially putting Iran on notice” because of the test-firing, without elaborating on a U.S. response.
Several days earlier a bipartisan group of 20 senators sent a letter to Trump, which said “full enforcement of existing sanctions and the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program are necessary.”
The new sanctions are also in response to continuous terrorist activity, NBC News reported, citing two unidentified U.S. government officials.
