US issues new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program ahead of direct talks

The US Treasury Department sanctioned five entities and one individual in Iran on Wednesday for their support to Iran’s nuclear program.

Those designated were allegedly providing to support to sides that manage and oversee Iran’s nuclear program, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the AEOI-subordinate Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA).

“Today’s action, which targets entities procuring, or manufacturing, critical technologies for TESA and AEOI, is taken in furtherance of US policy that Iran be denied a nuclear weapon, as stated in National Security Presidential Memorandum 2,” the Treasury Department said in reference to the maximum-pressure campaign issued by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

The latest sanctions come just days ahead of high-level talks slated to be held on Saturday in Oman between Washington and Tehran. The Trump administration has been trying to craft a new nuclear deal after it withdrew from the 2015 agreement signed under the Obama administration.

“The Iranian regime’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a grave threat to the United States and a menace to regional stability and global security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday. “Treasury will continue to leverage our tools and authorities to disrupt any attempt by Iran to advance its nuclear program and its broader destabilizing agenda.”

Earlier this week, in a surprise announcement as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sitting next to him in the Oval Office, Trump said the US was holding direct talks with Iran. Iran has said the talks will be indirect, but a US official told The Washington Post on Tuesday that Washington would not go to Oman for the meeting if the negotiations are not face-to-face.