IRNA – The US Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian petrochemical sector.

“The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action today against Iran’s largest and most profitable petrochemical holding group, Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), for providing financial support to Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters (Khatam al-Anbiya), the engineering conglomerate of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC),” US Treasury Department reported.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Treasury Department Steven Mnuchin said that the US is after blocking financing the IRGC forces in Iran through petrochemical sector.

On May 8, 2018, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, which was condemned by other parties to the 2015 agreement.

Trump's choice has faced opposition of the international community; namely Russia, China, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said earlier that Iran will give a 60-day moratorium to the states parties to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to remedy their breaches and restore Iran's interests enshrined by the international deal.

Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in a statement announced that Iran has stopped some of its commitments under the JCPOA as of May 8, 2019.

INSTEX was adopted by foreign ministers of the European trio on the sidelines of a European Union summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest on January 1.

INSTEX has been registered at the address of France's Economy and Finance Ministry in Paris. German banker Per Fischer has been chosen for a period of six months to run it. Also, a senior UK diplomat is expected to head the Supervisory Board.