The United States on Monday, June 3 ratcheted up its efforts to isolate Iran for its suspected nuclear weapons program, targeting Tehran with currency and auto-sector sanctions, Reuters said.
President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate significant transactions in the Iranian rial, meant to further weaken a currency that has already lost two-thirds of its dollar value since late 2011 as a result of Western sanctions.
A senior administration official said the low level of the rial was a key vulnerability for the Iranian government.
In his ninth executive order against Iran, the president also approved sanctions against people who do business with Iran's auto sector, which the White House said was a major source of revenue for Tehran. The sanctions go into effect on July 1.
The United States and Western powers have imposed a series of economic sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran into halting what they say is a drive to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for generating power and for medical devices.
Sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union halved Iran's oil exports last year, depriving the government of billions of dollars in revenue, increasing already high inflation and hitting the rial's value.
Restrictions on the auto industry, which traditionally employs the most people after the oil and gas sector, also raise fears it is ordinary Iranians that will be most harmed, analysts said.
