U.S. expands Iran-related sanctions as Tehran urges countries to reject them

The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network had proposed restrictions targeting Banque Misr’s operations in the United Arab Emirates.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran was preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait. Washington maintains that the waterway must remain open to international shipping.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said in a social media video that U.S. forces had removed sea mines that Washington attributes to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He stated that international shipping lanes were open.

The developments came six months after the U.S. and Israel began military operations against Iran on February 28. The status of the Strait of Hormuz remains a central issue in efforts to restore a ceasefire.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that the United States had imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, the first Japanese national to head the International Criminal Court (ICC), in another escalation of the Trump administration's campaign against the Hague-based court.