Following the trail of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 passed last week in response to Iran’s continued non-compliance with earlier UNSC resolutions, the United States today added numerous parties to its listed of sanctioned entities.

The U.S. government entity responsible for the country’s primary sanctions regime against Iran is the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  In addition to promulgating regulations limiting trade with Iran and a number of other countries, OFAC also maintains the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, a list of entities with whom any U.S. trade is prohibited.

Today’s listing, summarized in a Reuters article today, includes numerous entities related to Iran’s defense sector. This includes Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Ali Jafari, and head of the IRGC’s Basij paramilitary force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi.  Also included, among other entities, is the IRGC Air Force and IRGC Missile Command.

The sanctions also cover extensive shipping industry entities, including a number of ships and shipping companies.

Iran’s Post Bank has also been listed on the SDN.

Notably, as the previous post noted, the European Union is also contemplating similar types of sanctions against Iranian entities.  It should be stated that these sanctions do not appear to pose any particular pressure on Iranian civilians, rather they look to be crafted with an eye to pressure the IRGC and related entities, as well as entities deemed to be assisting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.