RFERL:

The United States has hit Tehran with new sanctions, targeting 31 Iranian scientists, technicians, and companies it says have been involved in the country's nuclear and missile research and development programs. 

In a statement on March 22, the U.S. State Department said the 14 individuals and 17 entities targeted are affiliated with Iran's Organization for Defense Innovation and Research. 

It said the group is known by its Persian acronym SPND and was "established by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the head of the regime’s past nuclear weapons program."

President Donald Trump’s administration "continues to hold the Iranian regime accountable for activities that threaten the region’s stability and harm the Iranian people. This includes ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” the statement said. 

The statement comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Beirut warning Lebanese officials to curb the influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. 

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