Me'iad Maleki, the former head of the sanctions targeting office at the U.S. Treasury Department, said that Washington’s new sanctions, rather than targeting only companies inside Iran, are putting pressure on supply, sales, and shipment networks for goods in neighboring countries of the Islamic Republic.

He added that many Iranian companies in sectors such as metals, the automotive industry, and domestic manufacturing depend on networks in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries. According to Maleki, as regional conditions have changed and countries’ concerns about the activities of the Islamic Republic have increased, the likelihood that they will cooperate in carrying out U.S. sanctions has grown.