In yet another futile move, US announces new anti-Iran bans

In a statement on Monday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it took action against companies used by Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co. (PGPICC), one of the nation’s largest petrochemical brokers, to facilitate the sale of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products from Iran to East Asia. PGPICC is a subsidiary of Iran’s petrochemical conglomerate Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Co. (PGPIC), which accounts for half of all of Iran’s total petrochemical exports.

The Treasury's statement added, "In a separate but related action, the Department of State is also designating two entities that have engaged in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, including providing logistical support to the Iranian petroleum trade, pursuant to E.O. 13846."

The new round of sanctions comes while Washington in a hypocritic way calls for concluding the talks between Iran and the P4+1.

Tehran has taken steps away from the JCPOA known as the remedial measures after the US illegal move in withdrawing from the nuclear deal known as the JCPOA but it has not left the deal yet.

Iran has said it will reverse course and will stop remedial measures and will return to full compliance with the JCPOA once the other parties force Washington to lift the illegitimate sanctions before returning to the JCPOA.

Recently, the IAEA Board of Governors issued an anti-Iran resolution drafted by Washington and the E3 accusing Iran of non-cooperation with the IAEA.

Iran retaliated the resolution by disconnecting and removing dozens of IAEA surveillance cameras that were installed in different Iranian nuclear sites beyond the Safeguards Agreement between Tehran and the agency.

It has also started fueling advanced IR-6 centrifuges as part of the reaction to the Western-drafted resolution at the IAEA.

Tehran has vowed it will take other measures if the IAEA continues its illegal moves.

MNA