Obama administration delays decision on Iran ballistic missile program sanctions

The White House has delayed a decision on whether to impose sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies over Tehran’s ballistic-missile program.

The delay was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which also broke the story Wednesday that the Treasury Department was considering such penalties.

The United Nations determined earlier this year that some Iranian missile tests violated earlier Security Council resolutions against tehran’s development of ballistic missiles.

The United Nations determined earlier this year that some Iranian missile tests violated earlier Security Council resolutions against tehran’s development of ballistic missiles.

However, the Islamic Republic has said it would consider any sanctions against Iranian individuals and companies to violate the nuclear agreement, a deal into which President Obama has poured much of his political capital on foreign policy.

The U.S. routinely enforces non-proliferation agreements by freezing assets and prohibiting Americans from doing business with parties that aid nations that develop prohibited weapons and the Treasury Department was reportedly ready to sanction a dozen parties, about half of them Iranian, over Tehran’s missile program.