The United States leveled new sanctions against Iran’s automotive industry and national currency.
The new sanctions prohibit American companies and citizens from carrying out transactions in rials, and financial institutions that allow such transactions will also be put under sanction.
The sale and transfer of automotive parts to Iran are prohibited according to the new U.S. sanctions, and Iran’s shipping industry now faces similar restrictions.
The head of the Iranian Shipping Company has warned against the effect of these sanctions and, at a gathering of shipping organizations, he said Iran must devise ways of countering the sanctions, which will include non-U.S. bodies beginning July 1. He confirmed the effect of sanctions on reducing petrochemical exports.
Iran’s petrochemical industry was also subjected to U.S. sanctions on May 30.
The office of Iran’s Supreme Leader has condemned the sanctions, saying the U.S. actions are not related to Iran’s atomic program but rather are an attempt to “suppress” and “censor” the Iranian people.
Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program has no military component, but nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers have not yielded any breakthroughs, which has resulted in the intensification of sanctions on Iran by the United States.
