U.S. sanctions Iranian oil trade as nuclear talks stall

The United States has imposed sanctions on a group of firms it says have played a critical role in shipping sanctioned Iranian oil. The State Department designated two Chinese companies, and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control hit a network of companies based in Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates. U.S. sanctions on Iran have accelerated in recent months, as administration officials try to bring Tehran back to negotiations for a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.