The United States has intensified its pressure on Iran with a new sanctions package that targeted individuals and entities linked to Tehran, coinciding with Washington’s announcement of dismantling a network that it said had worked to transfer sensitive defense technologies to the Iranian army.
On Friday, the United States issued new sanctions targeting Iranian individuals and entities, in addition to other parties, according to a notice published on the US Treasury Department’s website, which indicated that the sanctions included 8 Iranians and 5 entities linked to Tehran.
This step comes as US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent confirmed on Friday that any lifting of the financial and economic blockade imposed by the United States on Iran will be slow, and he said: “We will see.. It will be the case: anything that is lifted, will be lifted slowly.”
Picent revealed that the United States confiscated $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets, as part of the economic aspect of US President Donald Trump’s war with Tehran.
In a related context, the United States announced, on Friday, the dismantling of a system it described as “complex” for transferring defense technologies to Iran.
The US State Department said in a statement that the network “impersonated and defrauded American companies in order to obtain sensitive technologies for the Iranian army.”
According to Washington, the network was led by Ali Majd Sahar, an Iranian resident, who “defrauded dozens of American technology companies out of millions of dollars by impersonating legitimate American companies.”
The US State Department added that Sahar and his partners sought to obtain advanced equipment, including spectrum analysis devices and security detection devices for the Iranian defense sector.
She explained that the plan included creating fake websites that mimic the websites of real American companies, using intermediaries to receive shipments, and then smuggling the technology to Iran in violation of US sanctions.
