The United States on 20 August imposed sanctions on four additional officials of the International Criminal Court, expanding a months-long campaign aimed at curbing the tribunal’s probes of U.S. and Israeli nationals. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the court represents a “national security threat” and announced the designations under Executive Order 14203. Those targeted are Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada, Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, and Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. Washington accuses them of having “directly engaged” in efforts to investigate, arrest or prosecute Americans or Israelis without the consent of their governments, including rulings that cleared the way for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets the four may hold and bar them from entry into the country. The Hague-based court condemned the move as a “flagrant attack” on its independence, vowing to continue its mandate “without fear or favor.” France, whose national is among those blacklisted, said it “deeply regrets” the decision, while Netanyahu praised the U.S. action as a blow against what he called a “smear campaign” targeting Israel and its military. Wednesday’s designations follow a first round of sanctions in June that hit four other ICC judges. The United States and Israel are not members of the court, which was created in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide when national courts are unwilling or unable to act.