The Biden administration believes the time is running out for negotiations on reining in Iran's nuclear program.
Social discontent in Iran has risen by 300 percent in the past year according to an IRGC document obtained from Edalat-e Ali.
The US has granted South Korea a license to pay damages owed to an Iranian company, possibly a gesture from the US to Iran to move nuclear talks forward.
Talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed with the US and Israel ramping up the rhetorical pressure on Tehran on consequences.
The sanctions come after US prosecutors in July charged the four with plotting to kidnap the New York-based journalist who was critical of Tehran.
Many of the sanctions imposed by the administration of then-President Donald Trump after the 2018 US withdrawal from the JCPOA hobbled the Iranian economy, punishing the regime.
Last quarterly estimates by IAEA show Iran's stock of enriched uranium has risen to 2.4 tons, more than 10 times the amount allowed under the JCPOA.
"Maintaining maximum political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime"
PDVSA, Venezuela's oil ministry and NIOC did not respond to requests for comment. The US Treasury Department declined to comment.
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