Iran announced on Saturday that it had imposed sanctions on 61 additional US nationals, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for supporting an Iranian dissident group, as talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are in the dead end.
Others blacklisted by Iran’s Foreign Ministry for expressing support for the exiled splinter group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) include former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and ex-President Donald Trump. White House national security adviser John Bolton, Iranian media reported.
Stalled nuclear talks
The sanctions, pronounced in the past against dozens of Americans for various reasons, allow the Iranian authorities to seize the assets held in Iran by the personalities concerned. The apparent absence of such assets means the measures are likely tokenistic. Iran imposed sanctions on 51 Americans in January, and blacklisted 24 others in April.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal began in November in Vienna and continued in Qatar in June. They are currently at an impasse. In 2018, US President Donald Trump denounced the deal as too favorable to Iran and reimposed sanctions, prompting Tehran to violate the pact.
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(with Reuters)
