The United States has announced a new wave of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, marking its first punitive measures against Tehran since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended a deadly 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran last month.
The sanctions, revealed on Thursday by the U.S. Treasury Department, focus on efforts to circumvent existing oil export bans.
Among those named is Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Said and his UAE-based firm, accused of facilitating Iranian oil smuggling by blending it with Iraqi crude to obscure its origin.
“Iran has repeatedly chosen extremism over peace,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “We will continue to choke off the financial lifelines fueling its destabilizing activities across the region.”
The sanctions follow a brief window of optimism after the June 24 ceasefire, during which President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. might ease restrictions on Iranian oil sales, particularly to China. However, that possibility collapsed swiftly.
Just days later, Trump wrote in a fiery social media post that he had “immediately dropped all work on sanction relief” after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed a symbolic victory over Israel.
Trump also made headlines by claiming he personally blocked an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei, allegedly sparing the Iranian leader from what he called a “very ugly and ignominious death.”
While Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, confirmed an attempted assassination plan existed, they cited a lack of “operational opportunity” to carry it out.
The conflict that triggered this geopolitical spiral began when Israel launched air strikes on Iran on June 13, killing hundreds, including civilians and top Revolutionary Guard officials. Iran responded with missile strikes on Israeli territory and a bold attack on a U.S. airbase in Qatar.
In tandem with Israel, the U.S. conducted airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, which President Trump later said had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
The Pentagon claimed the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years though uncertainty remains over the whereabouts of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles.
In retaliation, Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing the watchdog of silence in the face of what it called illegal aggression by the U.S. and Israel.
The decision has drawn criticism from Washington and several European capitals, further complicating an already fragile diplomatic landscape.
Despite the hardline rhetoric, there are signs of backchannel diplomacy. On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed ongoing indirect contacts with the U.S., facilitated by mediators in Oman and Qatar.
Baghaei accused Western powers of betraying Iran’s diplomatic overtures, even as President Trump continues to insist the U.S. is open to negotiation — a position he reiterated just days before authorizing air strikes.
