New U.S. sanctions imposed against Iran further restrict the country’s ability to access its oil revenues and also impose sanctions on Iran’s state media.
According to the new sanctions, the American waiver on punitive measures against the countries that purchase oil from Iran would be withdrawn if any of the oil payments are transferred out of the purchasing country. The money can only be used to purchase goods from those countries.
The U.S. treasury has announced that the goal of the sanctions is to “lock up” Iranian oil revenues outside Iran, blocking Iran from spending the money domestically.
The sanctions are coupled with measures against the state-run media for allegations of human rights abuses.
Sanctions have also been set against Ezatollah Zarghami, the head of Iran’s national broadcasting, and also against Iran’s Cyber Police for their crackdown on netizens.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the new sanctions as “the latest series of hostile actions against Iran,” adding that Iran will make every effort to “neutralize the new pressure.”
Iran is already wrestling with oil revenues that have fallen nearly 50 percent, high inflation and medical shortages as a result of the sanctions.
