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.



Israel's Top Finance Ministry Civil Servant Resigns

An Israeli national flag flies over a city highway during rush hour, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli national flag flies over a city highway during rush hour, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Israel's Top Finance Ministry Civil Servant Resigns

An Israeli national flag flies over a city highway during rush hour, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli national flag flies over a city highway during rush hour, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)

The director general of Israel's Finance Ministry, Shlomi Heisler, will step down following the 2025 state budget next month after two years in the post, citing "urgent personal reasons", the ministry said on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appointed Heisler, an attorney, as the Treasury's most senior civil servant in January 2023. A successor has not yet been named.

Heisler, who had medical issues a few months ago but recovered to start working on the 2025 budget, said the past two years has been among the most challenging in Israel's history, especially after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Palestinian group Hamas, Reuters reported.

"After two years, after the intense fighting in the war has ended, residents can return to their homes in the north and south, and after the budget ... passes the Knesset (parliament), due to personal circumstances, I asked the Finance Minister to end my position," Heisler said in a statement.

"I have worked with the Finance Minister hand in hand and I am very sorry to be forced to end my role now," he added.

Israeli media reported that Heisler had opposed a number of Smotrich's policies.

Due to the need to boost spending during the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel fought Hezbollah that has since turned into a ceasefire, Heisler was responsible for formulating five budgets.

After long delays, the Knesset this month narrowly approved the 2025 budget in its first of three votes needed to become law. The budget is now being examined by parliamentary committees and final passage is expected next month.

Failure to approve the budget by March 31 would trigger new elections.

Smotrich called Heisler a first rate professional, saying he "passed five budgets and masterminded all the ministry's departments".

The ministry is also set to lose legal adviser Asi Messing after eight years in the job and Smotrich has declined to renew the term of ministry spokeswoman Lilach Weissman, who has served for nine years.