Washington, May 28: The United States has intensified pressure on Iran by imposing new sanctions. The US Treasury Department has added Iran’s ‘Persian Gulf Strait Authority’ to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. This authority was established to oversee maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury issued a statement on its website, accusing the authority of collecting “illicit fees” from commercial vessels and coercing them to comply with Iranian directives in exchange for safe passage.
The US has warned that any individual or company cooperating with this entity may also face sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Basset stated, “This new attempt by the Iranian military to extract from global maritime trade shows that the ‘Economic Fury’ campaign has left the Iranian regime economically desperate.”
Iran established the ‘Persian Gulf Strait Authority’ on May 18. In a statement released on May 20, it was announced that vessels passing through the Hormuz Strait must coordinate with Iranian authorities and obtain permission.
Meanwhile, during a cabinet meeting at the White House, President Donald Trump remarked that Iran hoped political pressure would increase due to the upcoming midterm elections in the US, but that would not happen.
Trump stated, “They thought they could wait me out. I am not concerned about the midterm elections.”
Regarding ongoing negotiations with Iran, Trump mentioned that the US is not satisfied with the current terms and is prepared to resume military action if necessary.
He added, “We are not satisfied with this yet, but we will be. Otherwise, we will have to get the job done.”
Trump also made it clear that Iran would not receive any relief from sanctions in exchange for relinquishing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
He stated, “No, absolutely not. There will be no relief from sanctions. They must give up their highly enriched uranium.”
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