“Today, we are designating 44 individuals and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear program and weapons procurement networks supporting ballistic missile and military aircraft programs,” Rubio said in a statement. Also on Wednesday, Russia stated that it doesn’t recognize the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran, signaling that it won’t abide by the measures, which include an arms embargo. “We do not recognize the snapback as coming into force,” said Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia. Russia and Iran have both slammed the reimposition of the sanctions as “illegal” since the US was the party that violated the JCPOA in the first place. The European powers took the step to trigger the sanctions before the mechanism was due to expire on October 18.