US Sanctions Iranian Metal Companies, Merchants

The US Treasury Department on Thursday unveiled sanctions against the Iranian metallurgical sector, blacklisting several companies including subsidiaries of the country's main steel producer.

In a statement, Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was sanctioning four companies and four sales agents as part of a crackdown on companies believed to fund either Iran's Revolutionary Guards or the country's "destabilizing behavior" worldwide.

"The Iranian regime continues to use profits from metals manufacturers and foreign sales agents to fund destabilizing behavior around the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

"The United States remains committed to isolating key sectors of the Iranian economy until the revenues from such sectors are refocused toward the welfare of the Iranian people."

The sanctions target five subsidiaries of Iran's Mobarakeh Steel Company, which Treasury said generates one percent of the country's GDP. Four of the sanctioned are sales agents operating in either Germany or the United Arab Emirates, while one is a manufacturing subsidiary based in Iran.

Also targeted were three aluminum, steel and iron producers in Iran, which Treasury said contributed to billions of dollars in sales and exports every year.

Treasury also sanctioned a company based in China and Hong Kong for supplying graphite to Iran.

Photo: IRNA