US Seizes Iranian State News Websites

FILE PHOTO: The Iranian flag flutters in front the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
FILE PHOTO: The Iranian flag flutters in front the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
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US Seizes Iranian State News Websites

FILE PHOTO: The Iranian flag flutters in front the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
FILE PHOTO: The Iranian flag flutters in front the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

US Justice Department said Wednesday it had seized 33 Iranian government-controlled media websites, as well as three of the Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah, which it said were hosted on US-owned domains in violation of sanctions.

Visitors to leading Iranian media sites like Press TV and Al-Alam, the country's main English language and Arabic language broadcasters, as well as the Al-Masirah TV channel of Yemen's Huthis, were met with single-page statements declaring the website "has been seized by the United States Government" accompanied by the seals of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Commerce Department, AFP reported.

The 33 websites were held by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU), itself controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC).

Both IRTVU and IRGC have been placed on the US sanctions blacklist, making it illegal for Americans, US companies, and foreign or non-American companies with US subsidiaries to have business with them or their subsidiaries.

Kataeb Hezbollah, the Iraqi group which owned three sites that were seized, is a hardline military faction with close ties to Tehran that Washington has formally designated a terror group.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the immediate parent of Al-Alam, reported that other web domains, including Palestine-Al Youm, a Palestinian-directed broadcaster, and an Arabic-language religious and cultural channel were among those seized.

Bahrain's LuaLua TV, a channel run by opposition groups with offices in London and Beirut, was also frozen by the United States, according to an AFP correspondent in the region.

On the website of their political wing, the Houthi branded the action "American piracy and copyright confiscation."

"The government of the United States of America is banning the Al-Masirah website without any justification or even prior notice," they said.

A-Masirah quickly established a new website, using its name but swapping the .net domain for .com.

Meanwhile LuaLua and Al-Masirah continued to broadcast new programs, AFP journalists said.

IRTVU was designated for sanctions last year for "brazen attempts to sow discord among the voting populace by spreading disinformation online and executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading US voters," the Justice Department said.

"IRTVU and others like it, disguised as news organizations or media outlets, targeted the United States with disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations," the department said in a statement.

US officials meanwhile have tied Kataeb Hezbollah to rocket and other attacks on sites in Iraq where American soldiers and diplomats reside, and say that the groups is supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Justice Department did not identify the US company or companies which owned the domains that hosted the websites, or explain how they had been able to host them contrary to sanctions.

The US action came as Washington seeks to restore the 2015 agreement between Tehran and six major countries to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.

In 2018 then-president Donald Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from the agreement, alleging that Iran was not adhering to its commitments, though independent nuclear inspectors said it was.

Upon taking office this year, President Joe Biden committed to rejoining the agreement and talks with Iran on what both sides would do to resume the pact have gone on for weeks.

EU negotiator Enrique Mora said on Sunday that those involved in the talks were "closer" to saving the Iran nuclear deal but that sticking points remain.

The US action also came just after Iranians chose ultraconservative cleric Ibrahim Raisi as president in an election the US State Department characterized as neither free nor fair.



US Issues New Sanctions Targeting Chinese Importers of Iranian Oil

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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US Issues New Sanctions Targeting Chinese Importers of Iranian Oil

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The United States on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports, including against a China-based "teapot refinery", as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to ramp up pressure on Tehran.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement the action would increase pressure on Chinese importers of Iranian oil as Trump seeks to restore his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero, Reuters reported.
The action comes as the Trump administration has relaunched negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program this month, with talks in Oman last weekend and a second round expected in Rome this weekend.
The Treasury on Wednesday said it imposed sanctions on a China-based independent "teapot" refinery it accused of playing a role in purchasing more than $1 billion worth of Iranian crude oil.
Washington also issued additional sanctions on several companies and vessels it said were responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran's "shadow fleet".
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York and China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China does not recognize US sanctions and is the largest importer of Iranian oil. China and Iran have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators.
"Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.

"The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners."
The Treasury on Wednesday also updated guidance for shipping and maritime stakeholders on "detecting and mitigating Iranian oil sanctions evasion," warning, among other things, that Iran depends on a vast shadow fleet to disguise oil shipments.
The Treasury said it was the sixth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
In his first 2017-21 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program. Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian power purposes.
"All sanctions will be fully enforced under the Trump Administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a separate statement on Wednesday.
"As long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its partners in sanctions evasion accountable."