ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed a new set of sanctions on ten individuals and entities for allegedly providing support to the Iranian government, as part of Washington’s new economic sanctions against Tehran.

In late August, Washington announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” a large-scale sanctions package on Iran that seeks to clamp down on third parties that directly and indirectly support the Iranian regime by facilitating its oil exports and shadow economy.

Among the targeted entities are several Iran, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan-based companies and entities over alleged links to the Iranian government, the US Treasury said in a statement. 

The sanctions were imposed to “degrade the Iranian regime’s ability to reconstitute its weapons program,” the statement added. 

The measures come six months into the US-Iran conflict, which began in late February with a series of US-Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran’s leadership and its nuclear and missile programs, prompting retaliatory Iranian strikes across the region, before turning into economic warfare after Tehran restricted access to the vital Strait of Hormuz.

“Under Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to sustain its terrorist enterprise,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, as cited in the statement. 

Washington in late September announced that it would impose sanctions on global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23, in a move aimed at grounding the Islamic republic’s entire civilian fleet worldwide. 

In May, Bessent warned that Washington would shut down Iranian airlines’ access to landing spots as part of its pressure campaign against Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iranian and US negotiating teams have been holding talks through mediators since last week’s UN General Assembly in New York, in an effort to pave the way for further negotiations.