Washington: The US will sanction 18 Iranian officials and entities accused of laundering the proceeds of oil sales as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on the Islamic regime in Tehran but holds off on military action to support widespread protests.
Among the people hit by the new sanctions is Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, whom the US says was one of the first leaders to call for violence to suppress the uprising in Iran – which is the largest in many years.
The development came as Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand said a Canadian citizen had “died at the hands of the Iranian authorities” amid the protests, though she did not provide further details.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions – made at Trump’s direction – would continue the administration’s pressure campaign since March aimed at accelerating Iran’s economic collapse.
“Our sanctions efforts have been effective in slashing oil exports and cutting revenue. The currency and living conditions [in Iran] are in freefall,” he said on Thursday morning, US time.
“The central bank is broke and printing money. Hyperinflation is next … The regime has chosen to squander what remains of the nation’s oil revenues on nuclear weapons development, missiles and terrorist proxies around the world.”
Bessent reiterated Trump’s support for protesters who are currently risking their lives on the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities. The US president said earlier this week that “help is on its way”, which many interpreted as a promise to intervene militarily.
The president took particular objection to the brutality of the regime’s violence against protesters. Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based organisation, says the death toll now exceeds 2600.
There was widespread expectation of US strikes when, in the early hours of Thursday, Iran closed its airspace to all but a few select international flights to Tehran, and the US withdrew some personnel from military bases in the region.
But Trump softened his position at the same time, saying the US had received information from trusted sources that the killing had stopped and that executions of political prisoners would not occur.
Iranian state media also cited officials saying 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani, who was arrested last week, had not been sentenced to death and would not be executed.
Trump did not rule out military action, but said he would see whether the promises to stop killing protesters eventuated.
The Financial Times reported countries in the region such as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to dissuade Trump from striking Iran.
“Things have de-escalated for now,” one Arab official told The Financial Times. “The US is giving time for talks with Iran and to see where they go from here.”
Bessent appeared to offer an olive branch to Iranian leaders in his video message, telling them there was “still time” if they chose to “join us”.
“US Treasury knows that like rats on sinking ship, you are frantically wiring funds stole from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will track them and you,” he said. “But there’s still time if you choose to join us. Stop the violence and stand with the people of Iran.”
Some reports from Iran indicated protests were shrinking, although verifying information is difficult amid an internet and mobile phone blackout, and a ban on foreign journalists.
The Wall Street Journal quoted two protesters in Tehran who said the streets were calmer, with fewer protests and police roadblocks.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via Twitter or email.
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