The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four China- and UAE-based companies “for facilitating the export of Iranian petrochemical products”. The State Department in parallel designated a Vietnamese firm and its managing director “for knowingly engaging… in a significant transaction for the transport of petroleum products from Iran”. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued that the “sanctions degrade the regime’s ability to inflict human rights abuses on the Iranian people” and reaffirmed: “Only a fundamental change in the Iranian regime’s behavior can provide a path towards sanctions relief”.