Washington imposes sanctions on 18 Iranian banks

The US sanctions on Iran's financial sector are aimed at 18 banks with the aim of further restricting Iran's sources of income.

The measures, according to Reuters, provide for the freezing of the assets in the United States of entities on the Donald Trump Administration's "blacklist" and prohibit Americans from doing business with them, while extending the scope of the so-called "secondary" sanctions to which they apply. "exposing third parties when trading with Iran: foreign banks risk losing access to the US market and financial system.

The governor of the Iranian central bank denounced the political nature of the sanctions and minimised their real impact. "Instead of having any economic effect, the US measure is aimed at national propaganda in the US and for political purposes," Abdolnaser Hemmati said in a statement.

Iran's foreign minister, for his part, accused Washington of targeting Tehran's ability to pay for basic needs during the coronavirus health crisis. "The American regime wants to blow up the channels we have left to pay for food and medicine," Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter. "Conspiring to starve a population is a crime against humanity," he added.

Just weeks ago, US sanctions came into force on more than two dozen individuals and entities involved in Iran's nuclear, missile and conventional weapons programmes, a senior US official reported.

This decision was taken unilaterally by the Trump Administration and conflicts with the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 by the United Nations and from which Trump withdrew in 2018.

The Persian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that this step poses a "threat to international peace and security and an unprecedented threat to the UN and the SC". In a statement released on Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Washington "is not only flouting all the principles of international law and the UN Charter, but is also openly challenging the international community through intimidation.

US sanctions have crippled the Iranian economy. President Rohaní said in June that his country was experiencing the most difficult year because of economic pressure from the United States and the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the Islamic Republic hard.

Iran's oil exports, a key source of revenue for the OPEC member, had fallen to their lowest levels in decades earlier this year, but Thursday's move, experts said, could affect the Islamic Republic's ability to secure humanitarian goods such as medicines.