US blacklists 2 UAE-based entities over ties to Iranian airline
The US government said that it has blacklisted two United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based companies over their ties to Iran's Mahan Air. In a statement on Wednesday, the Treasury Department said that the two companies, Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC, provided key parts and logistics service for Mahan Air, which has been blacklisted by the US since 2011, reports Xinhua news agency.
UAE-based Iranian national Amin Mahdavi, the CEO and owner of Parthia Cargo, was also designated by the Treasury.
"The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, as well as terrorist groups throughout the Middle East," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
According to the statement, all property and interests of the designated entities and the individual in the US have been blocked, and Americans are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
Also on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed continued resistance against the US sanctions, saying that it would eventually "break and go away".
The designation came amid a fresh round of US maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
Following its failed attempt on August 14 in the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo against Iran, the US has threatened to invoke snapback sanction, restoring all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Tehran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doubled down the snapback rhetoric on Wednesday during his joint press briefing with visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Hussein, however, did not comment when asked his stance on the US' decision, only saying that Iraq sought good relations with both Tehran and Washington.
Under the Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US, the arms embargo against Tehran is set to expire on October 18.
Tehran said it would not accept a renewal of the embargo.
