WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday extended its sanctions on Iran by taking aim at its construction sector, which Washington linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guards.
The sanctions, it said, would also target “four strategic materials as being used in connection with Iran’s nuclear, military, or ballistic missile programs.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed the sanctions after the construction sector was identified as “being controlled directly or indirectly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Iranian tensions with the United States have escalated sharply since US President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and began reimposing crippling unilateral sanctions.
Tehran has hit back by suspending its compliance with parts of the nuclear deal until sanctions relief is restored.
The latest sanctions “will help preserve oversight of Iran’s civil nuclear program, reduce proliferation risks, constrain Iran’s ability to shorten its ‘breakout time’ to a nuclear weapon, and prevent the regime from reconstituting sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes,” Ortagus said.
Just Tuesday, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), elected Argentina’s Rafael Grossi as its new head.
The IAEA is tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities to ensure they abide by the terms of the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The deal has become more shaky since the US pullout. However its European parties have repeatedly said they are committed to saving the accord, but their efforts have so far borne little fruit.
The decision to continue with restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program gives the United States additional authority “to prevent Iran from acquiring strategic materials for the IRGC, its construction sector, and its proliferation programs,” Ortagus said.
Tehran has hit back three times with countermeasures in response to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
On July 1, Iran said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond a 300-kilogramme maximum set by the deal, and a week later it announced it had exceeded a 3.67-percent cap on the purity of its uranium stocks.
In its latest move it fired up advanced centrifuges to boost its enriched uranium stockpiles on September 7.
US targets Iran construction sector with new sanctions
US targets Iran construction sector with new sanctions
Turkiye seals preliminary deals for largest foreign-funded railway project
- The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports
ISTANBUL: Turkiye has reached preliminary agreements with six international lenders to secure $6.75 billion for a new railway line across the Bosphorus in what would be Turkiye’s largest foreign-financed railway project, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Tuesday.
Once completed, the line that will pass through north Istanbul is expected to carry 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of freight annually, he said, adding that it will open “a new era in logistics” by boosting the country’s rail capacity between Asia and Europe.
The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports.
Preliminary deals were reached with the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the minister said.
“We aim to complete the tender process and hand over the site this year so that (construction) work can start,” Uraloglu said.
An uninterrupted rail freight across the Bosphorus Strait is currently possible through the Marmaray railway tunnel and only during limited hours daily. According to the ministry’s website, a total of just 1.7 million tons of cargo were transported through Marmaray between 2020 and October 2025.
