US warns of severe penalties for firms continuing sanctionable commerce with Iran

The US today warned companies globally that they would be subject to severe penalties including potential sanctions if they continued to have commercial transactions with Iran. In a press conference US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said doing business with Iran in defiance of sanctions will ultimately be a much more painful business decision than pulling out of Iran and being connected to Iran entirely.

Asserting that the US wants Iran to change its behaviour, Mr Pompeo said that at the center of it is an unprecedented campaign



of economic pressure.He said the objective is to starve the Iranian regime of the revenue it uses to fund violent and destabilising activities throughout the Middle East and, indeed, around the world.

The US today imposed the toughest ever sanctions on a defiant Iran aimed at altering the Iranian regime's behaviour. The sanctions cover Iran's banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.