US announces sanctions on Iranian paramilitary force

The US Treasury on Tuesday slapped sanctions on businesses providing financial support to an Iranian paramilitary group as part of its so-called maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury said a network of more than 20 businesses known as the Bonyad Taavon Basij was financing the Basij Resistance Force, a component of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"The international community must understand that business entanglements with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real world humanitarian consequences," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.