Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly lifted sanctions on two Iranian entities involved in Iran’s missile program just as Iran is believed to be closing in on having enough nuclear fuel to build a nuclear bomb.
“The sanctions, targeting the Mammut Industrial Group (Mammut Industries) and its subsidiary Mammut Diesel, were originally imposed by the Trump administration in September 2020 as part of efforts to increase a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear activity and actions in the region criticized as malign and destabilizing,” The Hill reported. “The entities were identified as being ‘key producers and suppliers of military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs.’”
The Trump administration had imposed crushing sanctions on Iran, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, in an effort to get the country to abandon its nuclear program.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued the sanctions against the two entities, Mammut Industrial Group and Mammut Diesel, in September 2020:
Treasury designated Iran-based Mammut Industrial Group (Mammut Industries) and its subsidiary Mammut Diesel pursuant to E.O. 13382 for 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. Since early 2000, Mammut Industries has supported the production of ballistic missile equipment for Iran’s AIO and specifically, Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), Iran’s primary developer of liquid propelled missiles. As of late-2019, Mammut Industries continued to support SHIG’s production of ballistic missile equipment.
A spokesman for the Biden administration’s Treasury Department said that the removal of the two entities from the sanctions list does “not reflect any change in U.S. government sanctions policy towards Iran.”
“They have nothing to do with JCPOA negotiation efforts,” the statement said. “The United States will continue to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities, including through implementation of our sanctions.”
The report noted that the Biden administration did not address whether the entities had stopped providing support for Iran’s missile program.
