US Imposes New Sanctions Targeting Iranian Airlines, Four Turkish Companies

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States imposed a new wave of sanctions on nine individuals and entities accused of skirting sanctions to secure equipment and parts for designated Iranian airlines, the Treasury Department said in a statement on Thursday.

"Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated nine individuals and entities procuring export-controlled, US-origin goods for sanctioned Iranian airlines," the statement said.

In addition, Washington also imposed sanctions on four Turkish companies that it says are helping designated Iranian airlines acquire equipment and parts.

"The facilitators designated by the Treasury today have been procuring parts and providing services for the fleets of sanctioned Iranian airlines, including Mahan Air, Caspian Air, Meraj Air, and Pouya Air," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

The new US sanctions also targeted Turkish citizen Gulnihal Yegane and a network of firms based in Istanbul, including Trigron Lojistik, RA Havacilik and 3G Lojistik, the Treasury said.

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Ever since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, the US has been resorting to sanctions pressure against Tehran in what the Treasury said was the US president's "aggressive campaign" against Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

On May 22, Washington imposed sanctions on five members of the IRGC over their alleged efforts to provide missile support to Yemen's Houthi militants. Previously, the Treasury sanctioned six individuals, including Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, over alleged ties to the IRGC and the Hezbollah movement, which Washington considers to be a terrorist group.