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US Sanctions
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The move, announced Friday and first reported by The Associated Press, makes good on the Trump administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on companies and countries that do business with Iran. It's also part of the Republican administration's overall ramped-up campaign to cut off Iran's key source of revenue - its oil exports. Concurrently, the US this month imposed a physical blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies. These sanctions come just a few weeks before President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping are due to meet in China. Included in Friday's sanctions is Hengli Petrochemical's facility in the port city of Dalian, which has a processing capacity of roughly 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it one of the biggest ...
The US imposed sanctions on seven senior commanders of Iraqi militias that are supported by Iran, including groups like Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, for allegedly planning and carrying out attacks on US personnel and coalition forces in the region. Officials have said the move is part of a broader effort to counter Iran's influence in Iraq and deter further violence against US interests. The action also signifies a US strategy of using economic pressure, not just military force, to target Iran's network of allies, while warning global banks and firms to stop doing business with anyone tied to these groups. "We will not allow Iraq's terrorist militias, backed by Iran, to threaten American lives or interests," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said Friday. "Those who enable these militias' violence will be held accountable." US Central Command says ships moving through Strait of Hormuz ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "We'll s
The United States on Wednesday ruled out granting any further exemption from sanctions for the purchase of Russian or Iranian oil. US Treasury Scott Bessent announced at a press conference at the White House here. "We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil, and we will not be renewing the general license on Iranian oil. That was oil that was on the water prior to March 11, so all that has been used," Bessent told reporters here. On March 5, the US issued a 30-day sanctions waiver to India, permitting it to buy Russian oil despite sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war. A few days later, the US extended the sanctions waiver to a few other nations. The waiver from sanctions expired on April 11.
President Donald Trump said the US was beginning to talk with Cuban leaders as his administration is putting greater pressure on the communist-run island and cutting off key oil supplies. The Republican president made the comment to reporters on Saturday night as he was flying to Florida. It comes in the wake of his moves in recent weeks to cut off supplies of oil from Venezuela and Mexico, which he suggested Saturday would force Cuba to the negotiating table. His goals with Cuba remain unclear, but Trump has turned more of his attention toward the island after his administration in early January captured Venezuela's then-President Nicolas Maduro and has been more aggressive in confronting nations that are adversaries of the US. Trump has predicted that the Cuban government is ready to fall. He did not offer any details on Saturday about what level of outreach his administration has had with Cuba recently or when, but simply said, "We're starting to talk to Cuba." His recent moves
The nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy appeared increasingly smothered Thursday, a week after authorities shut the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that activists say has killed at least 2,637 people. The prospect of US retaliation for the deaths of protesters still hung over the region, though President Donald Trump signalled a possible de-escalation, saying the killing appeared to be ending. Meanwhile, the US announced new sanctions on Iranian officials accused of suppressing the protests, which began late last month over the country's faltering economy and the collapse of its currency. The Group of Seven industrialised democracies and the European Union said they too were looking at new sanctions to ratchet up the pressure on Iran's theocratic government. The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran for Thursday afternoon at the request of the United States. In Iran's capital, Tehran, witnesses said recent mornings show