US issues new Iran-related sanctions against 16 individuals, 11 entities

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a new round of Iran-related sanctions on Thursday, targeting 16 individuals and 11 entities.

OFAC said it added them to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

The new sanctions’ targets include financial institutions, currency exchange firms and energy and trading companies.

One of these entities is Cuba’s Banco Internacional de Comercio S.A. (BICSA), which was targeted due to its ties with Iran’s Karafarin Bank, which has been under sanctions since 2020.

“For too long, Communist Cuba has been allowed to operate as an outpost for malign actors and terror groups — including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism — to target the United States,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Reacting on X, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described the action as “aggressive.” He called BICSA “an absolutely legitimate bank whose transactions in Cuba and around the world are also absolutely legitimate.”

The US also imposed sanctions on the Iraq-based International Development Bank for Investment and Finance. The Treasury said the institution provides financial services and US dollar access for Iran.

In August, the Trump administration had already imposed fresh sanctions on nearly 60 Iran-linked entities as it hoped to cut off Iran from the rest of the global economy.