The Treasury and State departments announced on Thursday that the US was freezing assets and banning transactions of entities and individuals they claim are involved in the proliferation of material used for making weapons of mass destruction or are attempting to evade sanctions.

The move comes amid renewed hopes for an end to the more than 10-year old Western standoff over Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program following a deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

On November 24, Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - plus Germany sealed an interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the dispute between the West and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the six countries undertook to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Tehran has warned that the deal ends if more sanctions are imposed during this time.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew met with much of the Senate in private on Wednesday in a renewed effort to put a hold on any legislation that might scuttle the nuclear deal.

SHI/SHI