US Treasury Imposes Iran-Related Sanctions on Entities in China, Lebanon, UAE

Four Lebanon-based companies were added to the OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals list for alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"The [Treasury Department] designated a key IRGC-QF-run support network working with Hizballah, including IRGC-QF official Hasan Deghan Ebrahimi, his associates Muhammad Abd-al-Amir Farhat and Yahya al-Hajj, and several affiliated companies in Lebanon," the release stated.

The list if the entities includes: Maher Trading and Construction Company, Mirage for Engineering and Trading, Mirage for Waste Management and Environmental Services SARL, Reem Pharmaceutical in Lebanon; Cosailing Business Trading Company Limited, Ningbo New Century Import and Export Company, Ltd. in China; Royal Pearl General TRD or Royal Pearl Chemical in the United Arab Emirates.

The US Department of the Treasury is ready to continue introducing sanctions against Iran over the ballistic missile program that the US believes Iran has, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Acting Director John Smith said in a release following the news about the new sanctions.

"We will continue to actively apply all available tools, including financial sanctions, to address this behavior," Smith stated.

Earlier today, US President Donald Trump said that Iran is "playing with fire," adding that he will not be "as kind" as former US leader Barack Obama had been.

On Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn issued a statement putting Iran on notice for allegedly violating a UN Security Council resolution.

Flynn's comments came a day after Tehran launched a ballistic missile near the city of Semnan, the latest in a series of tests, which began shortly after implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The accord between Iran, the US and five other nations aimed to limit Iran’s development of nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.