December 16, 2020
Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities for facilitating the export of Iranian petrochemical products by Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), an entity designated by Treasury in January 2020. These China- and United Arab Emirates-based companies have provided Triliance with critical shipping services or conducted financial transactions on behalf of the company, enabling Triliance to continue brokering and moving Iranian petrochemical exports. Iranian petrochemical sales are an important revenue source for the Iranian regime, generating wealth for its corrupt leaders and financing a range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for foreign terrorist groups, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Last week, the United Kingdom (UK) moved forward with its first inoculations of the approved Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The United States (US) approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Friday, 11 December, and will begin inoculations this coming week. The European Union (EU) continues to stress safety over speed in its vaccine approval process and has yet to follow suit.
The UK sealed the deal on a number of Free Trade Agreements, while talks with the EU continue without any significant breakthroughs. Meanwhile, the UK and EU are also preparing for a possible hard exit scenario.
This past week, Poland and Hungary reached a compromise with the EU on the custom union’s Budget and Recovery Fund, which will allow funds to flow at the start of the new year. The 116th US Congress, meanwhile, continues negotiations over a new COVID relief package, amid other priorities before adjourning.
Houthis, Iranian Envoy Come Under U.S. Sanctions Pressure Amid Yemen War
Hasan Irlu, Iran’s envoy to the Houthis, presents credentials to Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi government’s Supreme Political Council. (Source: Hasan Irlu)
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Politics
December 9, 2020 –
TEHRAN – Following the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s ambassador to Yemen, the Iranian envoy thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for imposing sanctions on him.
“I thank the gambler Trump, who in the last days of his presidency, insists on showing the true face of the U.S. government. Of course, towards the goal of freeing the nations of the region from the Zionism & U.S., We are not afraid of sanctions and martyrdom, but we are proud of it,” Hasan Irlou, the Iranian ambassador to Sanaa, said in a tweet on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Irlou.