US President Donald Trump said all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop and any country or person buying any from the country would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.
“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form,” he wrote on Truth Social yesterday.
Trump’s comments follow the postponement of the latest US talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, which had been due to take place in Rome tomorrow. A senior Iranian official told Reuters a new date will be set “depending on the US approach.”
Trump’s administration has targeted Tehran with a series of sanctions on entities including a China-based crude oil storage terminal and an independent refiner it has accused of being involved in illicit trade in oil and petrochemicals.
In February Trump restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran which includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero and help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Secondary sanctions are those where one country seeks to punish a second country for trading with a third by barring access to its own market, a particularly powerful tool for the US because of the size of its economy.
“US sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the Iranian official told Reuters.
“Depending on the US approach, the date of the next round of talks will be announced.”
Oman, which mediated earlier sessions of the US-Iran talks, said yesterday the next round of nuclear discussions provisionally planned for May 3 would be rescheduled for “logistical reasons”.
However, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the US had never confirmed its participation in the fourth round of talks in Rome.
The source said the timing and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be confirmed but are expected in the near future.
Earlier yesterday, Iran accused the US of “contradictory behaviour and provocative statements” after Washington warned Tehran of consequences for backing Yemen’s Houthis and imposed new oil-related sanctions on it in the midst of nuclear talks.
Separately, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would continue to engage “seriously and resolutely” in result-oriented negotiations with the US, state media reported.
Trump, who has threatened to attack Iran if diplomacy fails, has signalled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Iran has far exceeded the 2015 agreement’s curbs on its uranium enrichment since the US exited the pact and European countries share Washington’s concern that Tehran could seek an atomic bomb. Iran says its programme is peaceful.
Iran and three European powers – Britain, France and Germany – were scheduled to meet in Rome today to improve strained ties over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme during this time of high-stakes talks between Tehran and Washington, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday.
However, the senior Iranian official who spoke to Reuters said yesterday that it was now “not certain” whether today’s meeting would go ahead.
On Wednesday, Washington imposed sanctions on entities it accused of involvement in the illicit trade of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.
Separately, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran that it would face consequences for supporting the Houthis, who control northern Yemen and have attacked ships in the Red Sea in what the group says is solidarity with the Palestinians.
Washington has been bombing the Houthis intensively since mid-March, hitting more than 1,000 targets. Tehran says the Houthis act independently.
&uuid=(email))