The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that Washington had imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and entities, including entities based in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, for helping the Iranian Ministry of Defense purchase weapons and their components, according to Reuters.
These sanctions come within the framework of a broader effort by the administration of US President Donald Trump that aims to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the US-Iranian war that broke out last February.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said: “As part of Operation Economic Exclusion, the Department will continue to target and obstruct those who provide material, technical, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to continue its terrorist activities... The Department will not tolerate any support for the regime, and will continue to monitor, detect, and isolate those who enable Iran’s practices.”
The Treasury Department stated that the sanctions aim to undermine Tehran's ability to rebuild its weapons programs, while increasing the cost to parties that support its procurement efforts.
Today (Tuesday), New York Mayor Zahran Mamdani unveiled a comprehensive plan to combat anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews in New York City, in a move aimed at allaying persistent concerns among critics who see his continued condemnation of Israel as anti-Semitism, according to the German News Agency.
The strategy includes increasing funding allocated to secure Jewish synagogues, strengthening the focus on including Jewish history in education in public schools, and pledging to highlight important Jewish cultural and religious sites within the mayor’s daily work in running the city.
Mamdani said that the main goal of the initiative is “to address the serious threat of anti-Semitism now and in the future,” noting that Jews make up only 12 percent of the city’s population, but are subject to about half of the hate crimes reported in the city.
He said in a video clip: “This is not only unacceptable, but it is something that it is the responsibility of all of us to change.” The municipal administration will lead this path.”
Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim mayor of New York City, has long supported civil rights for Palestinians and has accused the Israeli government of committing genocide in Gaza. He said his criticism of Israel did not amount to anti-Semitism, while his opponents argued that his harsh rhetoric on the conflict made Jews feel unsafe in the city.
The plan, announced today (Tuesday), is the mayor's strongest attempt yet to address the Jewish community's concerns about anti-Semitism, with Mamdani pledging to "build a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe, but celebrated."
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he does not want to cooperate with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on regulating artificial intelligence technology, adding that this would create difficulties for American companies in developing products in this sector that are better than their Chinese counterparts.
Trump added during an event held in Washington on Tuesday morning: “We now outperform China and all other countries, and I want the situation to remain as it is,” according to the Reuters news agency.
He went on to say that he discussed the issue of artificial intelligence with Xi during his visit to the United States last week, adding that Washington is already cooperating with Xi's government "in many ways."
Pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to deal with the risks that artificial intelligence technology poses to the public, after the companies “OpenAI” and “Anthropic” reported that their artificial intelligence programs got out of control and penetrated customer systems without receiving instructions to do so.
These violations prompted researchers to warn that some artificial intelligence developers believe that this technology may kill people within a decade. This has led to increased calls for both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to take action to rein in this emerging technology.
