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.



Italy against Suspending EU-Israel Accord, Foreign Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers ahead of potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye, in Antalya, on May 15, 2025. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers ahead of potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye, in Antalya, on May 15, 2025. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP)
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Italy against Suspending EU-Israel Accord, Foreign Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers ahead of potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye, in Antalya, on May 15, 2025. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers ahead of potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye, in Antalya, on May 15, 2025. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP)

Italy is against a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over alleged human rights violations in Gaza, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.

"Our position is different from that of Spain," Tajani said on the sidelines of a meeting with EU colleagues in Brussels, referring to Spain's support for a suspension of the deal.

Tajani said it was important to keep relations open with Israel, saying that this had facilitated the evacuation of some civilians out of Gaza.