US sanctions 8 entities, an individual and vessel tied to Iran shipments from China » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 21 — The United States has imposed sanctions on eight entities, an individual, and identified a vessel as blocked property over their role in facilitating shipments of sensitive machinery from China to Iran’s defense sector.

The US State Department announced the sanctions on Friday, escalating efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs amid a raging war with Israel.

The Department said the targeted entities and individual were involved in procuring and shipping proliferation-sensitive equipment to support Iran’s defense industry.

The machinery, it said, was destined for the Rayan Roshd Afzar Company (RRA) and Towse Sanaye Nim Resanaye Tarashe, the latter of which is controlled by executives from RRA—both companies previously designated by the US for their roles in Iran’s weapons development.

The sanctioned vessel, also named in the announcement, was used in the shipment of the illicit cargo.

“This action implements the mandate of President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum-2 to restore maximum pressure on Iran,” the statement noted.

Geneva talks

Washinton said the aim is to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities, while also cutting off funding sources for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its network.

The US issued the sactions under Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and those who support them.

The State Department emphasized that the United States would continue to use “all available means” to disrupt Iran’s procurement networks for nuclear, ballistic missile, and UAV programs—activities Washington says threaten stability across the Middle East and beyond.

The department announced the move as European diplomats met Tehran officials in Geneva to avert full-scale regional escalation amid a growing Israel–Iran confrontation.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi expressed willingness to continue diplomatic dialogue, conditional on cessation of Israeli strikes, calling the bombardment a “betrayal” of ongoing diplomacy.

European officials, including the UK’s David Lammy and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, described the meeting as “serious, respectful” and emphasized that “a window now exists within two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”.

The meeting however arrived at no concrete agreement even as Iran reiterated it would not resume talks with the US until Israeli aerial bombardments cease