US hits Iran’s nuclear program with fresh sanctions ahead of planned talks

WASHINGTON — The United States has issued fresh sanctions on Iran the Treasury Department says, two days after President Donald Trump announced the US planned direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department designates five entities and one person based in Iran for their support of Iran’s nuclear program, Treasury says in a statement, with the aim of denying Iran a nuclear weapon.

The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subordinate, The Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Treasury says.

The action comes after Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that the United States and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran’s foreign minister said the discussions in Oman would be indirect.

In a further sign of the difficult path to any deal between the two geopolitical foes, Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks were unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”

The Iran Centrifuge Technology Company is crucial to Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts through the production of centrifuges, Treasury says in a statement.

The person targeted by the new sanctions is Majid Mosallat, managing director of the Atbin Ista Technical and Engineering Company, which Treasury says helps the company acquire components from foreign suppliers.

“The Iranian regime’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a grave threat to the United States and a menace to regional stability and global security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in the statement.