The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday extended a temporary suspension of some sanctions on Iran that were eased last year to speed relief supplies after a devastating earthquake.

The temporary easing of the sanctions on Iran was extended for another 90 days starting from March 25.

President George W. Bush eased some sanctions on Iran on December 31 last year so that US citizens and nonprofit groups could donate money directly to nongovernmental organizations working in Iran after an earthquake killed 26,000 people in the ancient city of Bam.

The 90-day easing of some of the sanctions also made it easier for relief groups to bring donated equipment into Iran.

The United States severed relations with Iran since the Islamic revolution when radical students held 52 American hostages from 1979-1981. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Bush administration branded the Islamic Republic as one of the "axis of evil" along with Iraq and the Democratic people's Republic of Korea, accusing Iran of supporting terrorism.

Source: Xinhua