US issues new sanctions as it dials up pressure on Iran

Iranian and US negotiators are set to meet in Swiss capital as Washington amasses military assets in Middle East.

The United States has issued a new wave of sanctions against Iran, targeting ships that it said are selling Iranian oil to help fund the country’s ballistic missile programme.

The penalties on Wednesday come a day before US and Iranian negotiators are set to meet for a third round of nuclear talks this year amid a massive military build-up by Washington in the region.

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As President Donald Trump continues to issue threats against Iran, Washington said it is also ramping up economic pressure against the country.

“Iran exploits financial systems to sell illicit oil, launder the proceeds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs, and support its terrorist proxies,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Under President Trump’s strong leadership, Treasury will continue to put maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime’s weapons capabilities and support for terrorism, which it has prioritised over the lives of the Iranian people.”

While the US calls the Iranian oil trade “illicit”, Iran, which is selling its own petroleum products, describes the crackdown on its energy sector as piracy.

The US has been intensifying sanctions against Iran as it amasses military assets – including two aircraft carriers and large fleets of fighter jets – in the region in apparent preparation for war.

Wednesday’s penalties targeted 12 vessels, as well as several companies and individuals that the US said are involved in Iran’s oil sales and weapons acquisition.

The new sanctions will freeze targeted assets of the designated firms and individuals in the US and make it mostly illegal for American citizens to engage in financial transactions with them.

Washington has been piling such sanctions on the Iranian economy since Trump nixed the multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018 during his first term.

That agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the release of international sanctions.

After returning to the White House in 2025, Trump reignited his economic maximum pressure campaign against Tehran with the goal of choking off Iran’s oil exports.

Still, the two countries have been engaging in diplomacy to avert the looming conflict.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the diplomats representing Tehran at the talks in Geneva, said it is possible to “fair and balanced” agreement with Washington.

He stressed that Iran – which denies seeking a nuclear bomb – is ready to answer any concerns or questions about its uranium enrichment programme.

“But we are not ready to give up our right to peaceful use of nuclear technology,” Araghchi told India Today in an interview.

The assertion appears to contradict US calls for zero uranium enrichment by Iran.

The top Iranian diplomat also dismissed Trump’s claim that Iran is developing missiles that could reach the US.

Araghchi said Trump often complains about fake news, but he has become “the victim of fake news” himself.

“We are not developing long-range missiles, and we have limited the range of our missiles below 2000km [1,240 miles],” he said, stressing that the Iranian missile programme is designed for self-defence to deter attacks against the country.

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Trump said the US reiterated that Washington is seeking a deal with Tehran.

“We haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” Trump told Congress.

Coincidentally, Araghchi had said hours earlier that “Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon”.

The US bombed Iran’s three nuclear facilities in June 2025 as part of Israel’s assault against the country. Trump regularly says that the strikes “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear programme.