US President Donald Trump stressed on Thursday that if Washington had not struck Iran earlier this year, Tehran would probably have created nuclear weapons "by now".
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Trump added that if the US had not taken this action and signed a nuclear deal with Tehran, "there would have been a big black cloud hanging over it". "The strike was very important", he said.
"Iran wants to work for peace now. They informed us about that. And they admitted that they fully support the agreement between Israel and Hamas. We imposed serious sanctions on Iran and many other things. We would like to see them rebuild their country, too," the US head of state noted.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on more than 50 individuals, companies and vessels linked to the export of oil and petrochemicals from Iran, aiming to disrupt what it called key elements of Tehran's "energy export machine."
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said the measure disrupts "the regime's ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States," primarily "billions of dollars" from oil and liquefied natural gas (LPG) sales.
The measure affects companies and networks in China, the United Arab Emirates, India, Turkey and Hong Kong that are involved in the transportation or processing of Iranian crude oil.
The measures also mark the fourth round of sanctions by Washington against refiners in China that buy Iranian oil, as part of the Trump administration's campaign of maximum economic pressure.