Recasts, updates with secondary tariff on Iran oil.
President Donald Trump's administration on Friday announced actions aimed to add economic pressure on Iran after another round of US-Iran nuclear talks concluded in Oman without much progress.
An executive order by Trump, released by the White House Friday afternoon, pledges to impose additional tariffs on US imports from countries engaged in business with Iran. The penalty is not automatic and is not set at a specific amount — it could be "for example 25pc", the order states. The US administration will determine whether any country continues to engage in business with Iran after 7 February and will then decide whether to apply the additional tariff, according to the order.
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi met in Muscat, Oman, on Friday and the two governments plan to hold additional meetings at a future date, according to the host country's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi.
Araqchi told Iranian reporters that he held firm to discussing only the nuclear portfolio — rather than also addressing Iran's missile program and other issues raised by the US. Araqchi said that he asserted "the rights that the Iranian people have", which is likely a reference to Tehran's demand to continue to have nuclear enrichment capacity. The US administration is eyeing permanent curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
Also on Friday, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on 14 additional tankers allegedly linked to a network transporting Iranian crude and LPG.
Whether the negotiations will avert another round of US strikes against Iran remains to be seen. Diplomats from the two countries last engaged in talks in April-June 2025, before Trump ordered a bombing raid against nuclear facilities in Iran.
The new tanker sanctions were announced shortly after the talks concluded in Muscat. The pattern of combining diplomacy and sanctions pressure continues the tactic deployed by Trump's administration during the previous round of US-Iran talks.
Friday's sanctions also include 15 entities and individuals allegedly tied to the Iranian oil trade.
The one major difference from last year's sanctions approach is a lack of enforcement against China-based entities involved in trading Iranian crude. Iranian crude cargoes mostly are delivered to buyers in China via a network of intermediaries and shadow fleet tankers and involve ship-to-ship transfers in international waters near Malaysia and Indonesia.
The US is finding it difficult to fully enforce sanctions against Iranian crude because of Tehran's ability to retaliate, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on 28 January.
Trump, who had ordered a US naval buildup in the Middle East, threatened military strikes against Iran, but also expressed a willingness to negotiate with Tehran.
