US sanctions Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan firms over military supply chain
The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on people and firms in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan that it accused of helping Iran’s military supply chain, as the Trump administration stepped up economic pressure on Tehran amid uncertainty over renewed diplomacy between the two countries.
The US Treasury Department said the move was part of its Operation Economic Outcast campaign, which it said was aimed at cutting off “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
The sanctions target 10 individuals and entities that the US alleged were involved in procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran’s defence ministry as it fights what the report described as its now seven-month war against the US.
US officials have said they want to disrupt Iran’s defence systems and further weaken the government’s ability to rebuild its weapons programme. The latest sanctions are also meant to raise the cost for people and companies that have helped Iran’s military procurement efforts.
The report said the Biden administration in 2024 had also targeted entities that supported Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics in the production and spread of missiles and drones.
The latest penalties came as Iran’s currency fell to a record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the US dollar. The rial has been falling steadily since the war began on February 28, after touching its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2.
Iran’s economy has been under pressure for years because of international sanctions, and the report said this year’s US naval blockade on Iranian oil and new sanctions imposed since the start of the war had pushed it into an unprecedented freefall. Overall, the latest US action combines fresh sanctions on alleged facilitators of Iran’s defence sector with growing pressure on the country’s already strained economy.
