US announces new Iran sanctions, targeting Omani ‘broker’

Sanctions come as talks stall between the Biden administration and Iran on restoring the nuclear deal.

The United States imposed sanctions on an Omani businessman and companies linked to him over allegations of involvement in an oil-smuggling network that supports Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC-QF). The measures, announced on Friday, come as talks to revive the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have stalled with a new administration led by conservative President Ibrahim Raisi coming into office in Tehran earlier this month. The sanctions targeted Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, described by the US Department of the Treasury as a “foreign broker” and accused of partnering with senior Quds Force officials to “facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to foreign customers, including buyers in East Asia”.