Iran Imposes Sanctions on 24 Americans as Nuclear Talks Stall

Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
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Iran Imposes Sanctions on 24 Americans as Nuclear Talks Stall

Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)

Iran said on Saturday it had imposed sanctions on 24 more Americans, including former Army Chief of Staff George Casey and former President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani, as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.

Almost all the people named were officials who served during Trump's administration, which imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, politicians and companies and withdrew the United States from Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.

In a statement carried by local media, the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the sanctioned Americans - who also included several business figures and politicians - of supporting "terrorist groups and terrorist acts" against Iran, and Israel's "repressive acts" in the region and against Palestinians.

Eleven months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Vienna on salvaging the 2015 deal have stalled as both sides say political decisions are required by Tehran and Washington to settle the remaining issues.

The sanctions let Iranian authorities seize any assets held by the individuals in Iran, but the apparent absence of such assets means the move will likely be symbolic.

Gen. Austin Scott Miller, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and several former ambassadors are among the officials targeted by the new Iranian sanctions.

In a similar move announced in January, Iran imposed sanctions on 51 Americans, many of them from the US military, over the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq.

Last year, it imposed sanctions on Trump and several senior US officials.



Authorities Investigate One of India’s Worst Aviation Disasters as Modi Visits the Site

This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
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Authorities Investigate One of India’s Worst Aviation Disasters as Modi Visits the Site

This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)

Authorities are investigating one of India’s worst aviation disasters a day after an Air India plane crashed, killing all but one of the 242 passengers and crew onboard, officials said Friday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site.

The Indian government has launched an investigation into the fatal crash of the London-bound Air India plane that came down in a residential area in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff on Thursday.

Officials said most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition. There was no news early Friday on the cause of the crash, or on efforts to retrieve the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — as authorities continued to search the crash site.

The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several college students on the ground. Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”

There was only one survivor of the crash, who was seen in television footage meeting Modi at a local government hospital.

Dr. Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press he had examined the man, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr. Gameti said. “But he seems to be out of danger.”

Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, ejecting him before there was a loud explosion.

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a probe into the disaster in line with global protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, said Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu in a statement on social media.

A team from the United States is expected to arrive in India to help. The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric are all sending experts.

DNA tests for victims underway Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, the national president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv, said. Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Thursday’s Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.

According to experts, there are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide, and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation.