The U.S. Treasury Department announced on July 2 that it was lifting sanctions on the Iranian nationals Behzad Ferdows, Mehrzad Ferdows, and Mohammad Reza Dezfulian, whom the Treasury Department had designated in September 2020 under an executive order aimed at proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters. According to the Treasury Department press release outlining the basis for the original designation, Behzad Ferdows and Mehrzad Ferdows held shares in Mammut Industries, a company alllegedly supporting Iran's development of ballistic missiles, and Dezfulian served as managing director of the Mammut Industries subsidiary Mammut Diesel. The Treasury Department denied any connection between the removal of the sanctions and ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program in Vienna.