WASHINGTON, DUBAI (Reuters) — The United States on Wednesday blacklisted two Iranian foundations controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and their subsidies, saying the institutions enabled Iran’s elite to sustain a ‘corrupt’ system of ownership over large parts of the economy.

The designations announced by the U.S. Treasury Department target Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) and Astan Quds Razavi (AQR), their leaders and subsidies. They are the latest action to reinforce the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran pursued by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bar Americans from doing business with them. Anyone who engages in certain transactions with these individuals and entities runs the risk of being hit with U.S. sanctions.

“EIKO has systematically violated the rights of dissidents by confiscating land and property from opponents of the regime, including political opponents, religious minorities, and exiled Iranians”, the Treasury said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in the Islamic Republic’s latest breach of a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, Iran has started research on uranium metal-based fuel for its research reactor in Tehran. Its envoy to the U.N. atomic watchdog, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Twitter said today:

R&D activities related to the design of an improved type of fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor started. Natural uranium will be used to produce uranium metal in the first stage.

He added that Iran had given design information about its research to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency had conducted an inspection, he said without elaborating.