As US officials say they are interested in negotiating more prisoner exchanges, the Trump Administration also imposed a new flurry of sanctions against Iran, seemingly making productive talks much less likely.



The new sanctions are targeting Iran Shipping Lines, its subsidiary E-Sail Shipping, and the nation’s larger airliner, Mahan Air. The US claimed they’re all involved in WMD proliferation.



The sanctions won’t take effect for 180 days, which US officials say is meant to give humanitarian aid groups time to complete ongoing shipments, and find alternative ways to get shipments into Iran in the future.



The US interest in sanctioning everyone and everything Iranian, however, will only make humanitarian shipments into Iran harder as time goes on, and promises to give aid groups time to make arrangements don’t mean they’ll ensure that there is an alternative available to them.

Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz