“Today, the Ministry of Finance’s Bureau of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designates the ‘Teapot’ oil refinery and its chief executive officers to buy and refine millions of dollars of Iranian crude oil. The Treasury Department said in a statement Thursday.
“OFAC is further imposing sanctions on 19 entities and vessels that ship millions of barrels of Iranian oil, including some of the “shadow fleet” tankers in Iranian “shadow fleet.”
Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of Iran’s nuclear deal in May 2018, and when he returned to the White House earlier this year, he reaffirmed his wasted maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. Iran said it would not negotiate under pressure. It also emphasizes that it makes a difference to military threats.
Sanctions come when the US president sends a letter to Iran asking for negotiations.
Iran’s foreign minister said in Thursdat that Tehran responds to Trump’s letter in the coming days through relevant channels, and that the letter contains more threats than suspicious benefits.
He added that Iran has held indirect meetings during various previous rounds of talks with the UK, Germany and France with the aim of reviving the nuclear trade (JCPOA), and that Iran is currently also speaking to discuss the issue of nuclear deals with Russia and China.
“Our policy is not a direct negotiation while continuing indirect negotiations as long as there is a threat,” he continued.
MNA