“Although we do not support the imposition of any new nuclear-related sanctions while negotiations are ongoing, throughout the JPOA [Joint Plan of Action] period we have made clear, by word and deed, that we will continue to enforce our existing sanctions,” Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at US Treasury David Cohen said.
Five individuals and one entity have been subjected to new sanctions for assisting the Iranian government in purchasing or acquiring US banknotes. Two Iranian companies, Abyssec and Douran Software Technologies, were targeted for allegedly helping Tehran dodge US sanctions and supporting human rights-related abusers.
US President Barack Obama’s administration said in early December it would resist issuing new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear weapons program for the time of multilateral nuclear talks.
On November 24, nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 countries and Iran stalled and the parties extended talks through to June 2015.
The Obama administration received sharp criticism from Republicans and Democrats in the Congress who have threatened to impose new sanctions on Iran as a result of the inability of the negotiating parties to reach an agreement by the November 24 deadline.
