US Restores UN Sanctions on Iran... Including Individuals Collaborating with North Korea

Trump "Will Not Allow Iran to Possess Nuclear Weapons"
State Department Iran Special Envoy "Will Do Whatever It Takes to Prevent Iran-North Korea Missile Cooperation"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Donald Trump administration restored UN sanctions on Iran's nuclear, missile, and conventional weapons on the 21st (local time) and placed major organizations and individuals, including Iran's Ministry of Defense, on the sanctions list.

On the same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a press conference at the State Department building in Washington DC with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, White House National Security Council (NSC) Advisor Robert O'Brien, and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft, announcing these measures.

The U.S. government stated that the restoration of sanctions is a measure under the UN's authority on sanctions against Iran. Secretary Pompeo said in a statement on the 19th, "The United States has initiated the snapback process to restore all previously terminated UN sanctions, including the arms embargo, under its authority."

The U.S. imposed sanctions on two key figures involved in Iran's uranium enrichment activities and five Iranian scientists. Major producers and suppliers of dual-use items for Iran's ballistic missile program were also included in the sanctions list. New sanctions and export control measures were imposed on 27 organizations and individuals related to Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The regime of Nicol?s Maduro in Venezuela, which cooperated in violating the UN arms embargo against Iran, was also placed on the sanctions list.

President Trump also stated in a separate statement, "The United States will never allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons and will not allow Iran to newly supply ballistic missiles and conventional weapons that endanger the world."

He said, "I am issuing a new executive order to prevent this from happening, restoring UN sanctions on Iran, and imposing new sanctions and export controls on more than 20 entities and individuals supporting Iran's nuclear missile and conventional weapons-related activities."

North Korea, known to have cooperated with Iran on long-range missile development a day earlier, was not included in the sanctions list. Elliott Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela at the State Department, expressed concern about Iran's cooperation with North Korea and stated that the U.S. will do whatever it can to prevent it.

North Korea and Iran are traditional allies in the anti-American camp and have long been suspected of cooperating in ballistic missile and nuclear technology fields.

The State Department, in explanatory materials related to the sanctions, pointed out the cooperation between North Korea and Iran by mentioning Iranians involved in Iran's enriched uranium accumulation, Iranians linked to organizations supporting Iran's ballistic missile program, and those playing key roles in Iran-North Korea missile cooperation. In this regard, under the 'missile-related measures' section, the Treasury Department designated two individuals, Asgar Esmaeilpur and Mohammad Gholami, who are Iranian missile managers, as sanctions targets.

Esmaeilpur served as the head of the research center of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), a subordinate organization of the Iran Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), which is designated under UN sanctions, and Gholami was reportedly a senior official of SHIG. The U.S. administration believes that both participated in and supported space launch vehicle launches with the support and assistance of North Korean missile experts.

The SHIG research center was designated as a sanctions target under the executive order dated January 17, 2016, and is reported to have played a key role in missile cooperation between Iran and North Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.