Iran Says New US Sanctions Show US Animosity, Lack of Seriousness in Nuclear Talks

New sanctions imposed by the US against Iran show Washington’s animosity toward the Iranian people and lack of seriousness in talks aimed at restoring the deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers on Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said at a weekly press conference on Tuesday. On March 30, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on an Iran-based procurement agent and his network of companies for aiding Iran’s ballistic missile program. The Treasury said the sanctions target companies that procured missile propellant-related materials for a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that is responsible for ballistic missile research and development. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh slammed the move as a sign of Washington’s ill intent. Former President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018 and restored sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Tehran retaliated by violating a number of key commitments under the deal. Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties – China, Russia, Britain, France, and Germany – to revive and bring the US back into the deal.