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US Treasury Department Lifts Sanctions on Companies Involved in ‘Providing Support’ for Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program
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by Benjamin Kerstein
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is seen in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
An advocacy group dedicated to preventing Iran from gaining nuclear capability has raised questions over a recent decision by US Treasury Department to lift sanctions on two companies heavily involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated last week that it would be removing sanctions on the Mammut Industrial Group and its subsidiary Mammut Diesel. No explanation was given for the decision.
The companies were originally sanctioned in Sept. 2020, with Treasury citing their “providing support to an entity in Iran’s ballistic missile program.”
“Mammut Industries and Mammut Diesel are key producers and suppliers of military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs,” the Department said.
The New York-based group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) stated Wednesday that “further context behind the decision to delist is necessary.”
“Reducing economic pressure on Tehran absent meaningful behavioral change would signal to the Iranian regime that it can extract concessions from the US through its intransigence,” the group asserted.
UANI noted that the administration has denied that the move signals any broader shift in Iran policy, or that it was linked to the stalled talks among world powers over a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
It added, “The Biden administration should be fully transparent about what led to the delisting of these individuals and entities implicated in Iran’s ballistic missile proliferation pursuits, and should reaffirm its commitment to bringing all the pressure at its disposal to bear on disrupting Iran’s development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.”
