The announcement comes as the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is at the point of collapsing.

The US has sanctioned Chinese and Emirati corporations, as well as a network of Iranian petrochemical producers, accusing them of supporting the evasion of sanctions by facilitating the export of Iranian petrochemical products abroad.

The US Department of the Treasury announced on Thursday that it has slapped sanctions on two Hong Kong-based firms, three in Iran, and four in the United Arab Emirates.

Jinfeng Gao, a Chinese national, and Mohammed Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore, an Indian national, were also sanctioned.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E Nelson said, “The United States is pursuing the path of meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“Absent a deal, we will continue to use our sanctions authorities to limit exports of petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products from Iran.”

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from the JCPOA in 2018, launching a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran’s economy, which his successor Joe Biden has continued to carry out.

In response to Washington’s exit from the accord, Tehran has begun ramping up its program.

Iranian officials say they want all US sanctions to be lifted right away, while the Biden administration wants a “mutual return to compliance” that would end sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program and scale it back.

Several conversations have failed to restore the agreement.

The US classification of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” looks to be one of the major sticking points. Tehran wants the classification withdrawn, but the US has been hesitant to do so so far.

On Thursday, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy said that the new US sanctions won’t work.

“Our petrochemical industry and its products have long been under sanctions, but our sales have continued through various channels and shall continue to do so,” Mehdi Safari said on Iranian state television.

The sanctions, according to Henry Rome, deputy head of research at the Eurasia Group, may be designed to increase pressure on Iran while also stifling domestic opponents who claim Biden has failed to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

“Washington is likely aiming to raise the costs for Iran of a continued no-deal scenario while also deflecting domestic and foreign criticism that it is allowing its Iran policy to drift,” Rome told Reuters.

He went on to say that without a broader plan, a single unilateral measure would be unlikely to affect Iran’s or China’s minds.

China has kept buying the most oil from Iran, while the US pressured India to stop buying.

“Indeed, Tehran may calculate that given the state of the oil market and global inflationary pressures, a concerted [US] campaign to collapse Iranian energy exports to Trump-era levels is not in the cards in the near term,” Rome added.

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