Iran has brutally cracked down on protests, Iranian drones have allegedly aided Russia's war in Ukraine and Tehran has accelerated its nuclear program, all of which raise the political price to giving Iran sanctions relief.

The move is the latest Washington response to the Iranian crackdown on unrest after the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September.

Countries around the world chafe at China's fishing practices, arguing its vessels often violate their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones and cause environmental damage and economic losses.

The sanctions are to be levied under the Global Magnitsky Act that authorises the US to sanction individuals who are deemed to be human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the US.

South Korea's foreign ministry said the latest move was part of its efforts to sternly respond to North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.

Western sanctions have crippled supplies of some crucial products in Russia.

Yet the Russian economy has so far survived Western sanctions better than many economists expected.

The US has sanctioned major military industrial firms in Russia and cut off exports of American-made components and US technologies that have been used in some of Russia's military hardware.

The protests, triggered by the Sept 16 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, mark one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

The frozen assets are a combination of shareholdings in companies and cash held in bank accounts.

Last week the country fired more than 80 missiles, including its latest short-range ballistic missiles and a new variant of intercontinental ballistic missile, by far the North's most launches in such a short period.

Instead, North Korea's ballistic missile programme has become stronger and it has carried out a record-breaking testing regime of multiple types of weapons this year – including of intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the US mainland.