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US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iran in Final Days of Trump Presidency

A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
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US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iran in Final Days of Trump Presidency

A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)

The United States on Friday sanctioned companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and on three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation.

They are the latest in a series of measures aimed at stepping up pressure on Tehran in the waning days of President Donald Trump's administration, which ends on Jan. 20.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had sanctioned seven companies, including Chinese-based Jiangyin Mascot Special Steel Co. and UAE-based Accenture Building Materials, and two people for shipping steel to or from Iran.

He said Iran's Marine Industries Organization, Aerospace Industries Organization and the Iran Aviation Industries Organization had also been blacklisted over conventional arms proliferation.

Iran has been a focus of Trump during his four years in office as he tried to force Tehran back into talks over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its activities in the Middle East. In 2018 Trump quit an Iran nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief because it did not go far enough.

Trump said he was open to negotiating a much wider pact that would seek more extensive constraints on Iran's nuclear program, as well as limits on its development of ballistic missiles and its sponsorship of militias in regional nations such as Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who will succeed Trump on Wednesday, has said he will return to the 2015 nuclear pact if Iran resumes strict compliance with it.

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6.2 Quake Jolts Southwestern Mexico, No Damage or Casualties

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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6.2 Quake Jolts Southwestern Mexico, No Damage or Casualties

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck a region in southwestern Mexico early Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey, causing no serious damage or casualties.
It said the quake was centered 21 kilometers (13 miles) southeast of Aquila near the boundary of Colima and Michoacán states at a depth of 34 kilometers (21 miles), The Associated Press reported.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media platform X that the quake prompted emergency response teams to review their protocol.
“There are no new developments,” she wrote. Mexico’s Social Security Institute said there were no reports of damage in the capital of Mexico City, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) east of the temblor's epicenter — near the mountainous village of Coalcomán, Michoacán.
Some people in Coalcomán and in Uruapan, the second largest city in Michoacán, posted surveillance footage on social media time-stamped at 2:32 a.m. local time that showed buildings sway and parked cars shake. Others reported that they ran into the streets to wait for the shaking to stop.
Mexico’s national seismological service said that as of 9 a.m. local time on Sunday, there had been 329 aftershocks. It put the magnitude at 6.1. It is not unusual for preliminary measurements to vary.
Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes because of its position near colliding sections of the earth’s crust. In the past 40 years, there have been at least seven magnitude 7 or greater temblors, killing around 10,000 people — most of them in a devastating 1985 8.0 quake.