US hits Iran with sanctions ahead of key nuke talks meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has hit Iran with a fresh set of sanctions as President Joe Biden prepares for a key weekend meeting with European leaders to discuss the possible resumption of nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic. The Treasury Department announced the penalties Friday against two senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies and an executive for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen and to Ethiopia, which has been fighting rival Tigray forces. Although the sanctions are unrelated to Iran’s atomic program, Biden has said he wants to build on any agreement to revive the languishing 2015 nuclear deal to include Iranian support for such groups.