New U.S. sanctions have broadened the front in the West's escalating economic conflict with Iran, targeting large swaths of the country's industrial infrastructure even as Iranian leaders are indicating a willingness to resume negotiations on the country's nuclear program.
With Iran's economy already reeling from previous sanctions, the new measures passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama last week are intended to deliver powerful blows against key industries ranging from shipping and ports-management to the government-controlled news media, congressional officials and economic experts say.
While some previous U.S. sanctions targeted individuals and firms linked to Iran's nuclear industry, the new policies are closer to a true trade embargo, designed to systematically attack and undercut Iran's major financial pillars and threaten the country with economic collapse, the officials say.