US Hits Iran With Fresh Sanctions Over Lack Of JCPOA progress

The United States Department of State has announced a new raft of sanctions on the Iranian petrochemical industry and entities involved in the illicit sale of Iranian petroleum products.

• In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken implied the sanctions are a response to the failure of Tehran to accept a deal to return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear accords.
• Blinken: "The United States has been sincere in pursuing a path of meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Until Iran is ready to return to full implementation of the JCPOA, we will continue to use our sanctions authorities to target exports of petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products from Iran."
• The US Treasury Department released a complimentary statement: “Until such time as Iran is ready to return to full implementation of its commitments, we will continue to enforce sanctions on the illicit sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals.”
• Shashank Joshi Defence Editor at the Economist notes the heightened political risk environment: "Don't think we've seen such a confluence of separate crises in generations: inflection point in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, JCPOA on the brink of collapse and the sharpest tensions over Taiwan for over 25 years. And America intimately involved in all three of them."