US hits Iran with new sanctions; petrochemicals targeted

The Trump administration is hitting Iran with new sanctions that target its largest petrochemical company for providing support to the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Treasury Department says the sanctions will apply to the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company and 39 of its subsidiaries and foreign sales agents. It says the company holds 40% of Iran's petrochemical production capacity and is responsible for 50% of the country's petrochemical exports. Treasury says the companies have done billions of dollars of business with the Guard Corps, which the administration designated a "foreign terrorist organization" last month.

The sanctions are part of the administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran and freeze any assets the targeted firms may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.