The Trump administration on Tuesday ratcheted up economic pressure on Iran, warning financial institutions not to allow independent Chinese refineries to buy Iranian oil and cracking down on Iran’s “shadow” banking sector. The measures were the latest actions taken as part of the Treasury Department’s “Operation Economic Fury,” which aims to cripple Iran’s economy and…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared in mid-April that the United States would not extend a waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil. Two days later, on a Friday evening, the Treasury Department quietly issued another 30-day reprieve. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the waiver, saying, ”Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the…
As nuclear talks restart in Pakistan this weekend, President Trump will confront the complicated legacy of his own decision, eight years ago, to cancel what he has called “a horrible, one-sided deal.” That Obama-era agreement suffered from flaws and omissions. It would have expired after 15 years, leaving Iran free after 2030 to make as…
An operation to tow a Russian tanker adrift in the Mediterranean Sea failed on Wednesday, leaving the laden vessel unmoored about 120 nautical miles north of the city of Benghazi, Libya, according to the Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority. Libya’s effort to tow the ship to safety failed when the towing cable snapped and…
More than a dozen American warships are patrolling the waters around the Strait of Hormuz to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports, aided by American fighter jets and surveillance aircraft. The goal is to force Iran to cave in to American demands by depriving the government in Tehran of its biggest single source of revenue…
For nearly 50 years, Iran has been treated as an outlaw, earning a spot as one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world for its nuclear and weapons programs, its support for terrorism, its human rights abuses and more. But despite persistent efforts by the United States, the European Union, Britain and the…
