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Continuing on designations and our leadership in trying to staunch the flow of terror groups, the Department of State is today also sanctioning nine entities based in South Africa, in Hong Kong, and in China, as well as three Iranian individuals, all for knowingly engaging in significant transactions for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petrochemical products from Iran, the world’s largest leading state sponsor of terror.

This action includes the designation of Iran’s armed forces social security investment company and its director for using their resources to invest in sanctioned entities.

I’d also like to mention today that in response to Iran regime’s unacceptable nuclear escalations, the Department of Commerce is adding five Iranian nuclear scientists to the entities list.

These five individuals were involved in Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program, known as the Amad program, and continue to be employed by the regime to this day.  After work on the Amad plan was stopped, Iran continued to preserve its Amad-era records and its cadre of nuclear weapons scientists, including these individuals.

Many unanswered questions remain about Iran’s undisclosed past nuclear-related activities.  These new listings today by the Department of Commerce reaffirm the importance of demanding a full and honest accountability and accounting from Iran of its past nuclear weapons-related activities.

I also want to call attention to the Iranian regime’s misinformation campaign surrounding the origination of the Wuhan virus.  Instead of focusing on the needs of the Iranian people and accepting genuine offers of support, senior Iranians lied about the Wuhan virus outbreak for weeks.

The Iranian leadership is trying to avoid responsibility for their grossly incompetent and deadly governance.  Sadly, the Iranian people have been suffering these kinds of lies for 41 years.  They know the truth:  The Wuhan virus is a killer and the Iranian regime is an accomplice.

We’re trying to help.  We continue to offer assistance to Iran in numerous ways and we will continue to do so.

We have an open humanitarian channel to facilitate legitimate transactions even while ensuring our maximum pressure campaign denies terrorists money.

We are assisting the IAEA, the nuclear watchdog, their inspectors, who are trying to ensure that Iran continues to comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

We’ve allocated a million dollars through the IAEA to provide member-states that requested support with coronavirus test kits and training.

And in the spirit of humanitarian gestures, the United States also continues to call on Iran to immediately release all wrongfully detained Americans being held inside of that country.  We will continue to hold the regime responsible for its terror and we will continue to assist the Iranian people.

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