The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced fresh sanctions against Iran’s petroleum sector in response to what he described as an expansion of the country’s nuclear program which has provoked renewed fears that it is preparing to build an atomic bomb.
In a statement on Thursday, Blinken said Iran had expanded its uranium enrichment program in the past month “in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose”.
Under the new sanctions, 11 vessels associated with the three embargoed organizations would be designated as “blocked property”.