Trump imposes new sanctions against Iran | Currently World | '
"We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran," said US President Donald Trump at the signing ceremony in the Oval Office. Depending on Iran's response, the sanctions could end immediately – or "they could take years from now on".
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is "ultimately responsible for Iran's destabilizing activities," Trump justified the "harsh sanctions." The punitive measures should deny Chamenei and his community access to "important financial resources".
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sarif will also be put on the sanctions list this week. This has already been done by eight senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards. In addition, "another billion dollars" of Iranian assets would be frozen.
Iran had previously stated that it would take new sanctions seriously. These are a "hostile act that equals economic terrorism and the economic war against our nation."
US plans global coalition against Tehran
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had previously announced that he would create an international alliance against Iran. He spoke of "a coalition that extends not only across the Gulf States, but also across Asia and Europe." This should be ready to push back the "biggest sponsor of terror in the world," he said before traveling to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He wants to talk to both countries about a common strategic line.
This new global coalition commemorates the "Coalition of the Willing" that supported the US attack on Iraq in March 2003. The military operation led to the overthrow of the then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Pompeo said the US wanted to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons and missiles, thereby ensuring that US interests were safeguarded and Americans were safe worldwide.
Trump had already announced the new sanctions on Twitter over the weekend. In an interview broadcast on Sunday by the station NBC, however, he also said that he was "without preconditions" ready for talks with Iran.
Russia criticized the US action. "We consider these sanctions unlawful," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow, according to the agency Interfax. Moscow repeatedly warns against an escalation of the conflict. If the Americans attack Iran, that would have disastrous consequences, said President Vladimir Putin recently.
Conflict has escalated since US drone launch
The months of tensions between Iran and the US had come to a dangerous end late last week. Iran fired a reconnaissance drone on Thursday, which, according to Tehran, had damaged the country's airspace. According to US data, the unmanned aircraft flew in international airspace.
The US then prepared a counter-attack, which Trump stopped just short of his words. He justified this with the expected number of 150 fatalities in Iran, which he disproportionately compared to the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Missile launch system override?
However, according to media reports, the US is said to have carried out cyber attacks on targets. The Washington Post reported that the action overruled the Iranian missile launch system. A spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense did not comment.
Iran, on the other hand, claims to have fended off the attacks. The US tried again but had no success, Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammed Jawad Asari Dzhahromi said via Twitter. Last year, 33 million cyber attacks were fought off by the national firewall, said Asari Dzhahromi, referring to "cyber-terrorism".
At the same time threatened the government Tehran with the launch of another US drone. The destruction of the reconnaissance drone had been a "decisive response," said the commander of the Iranian Navy Tasnim news agency. "Everyone saw the launch of the unmanned drone," said Rear Admiral Hossein Chansadi. "I can assure you that this decisive answer can be repeated, and the enemy knows that."
gri / ust / stu (dpa, afp, rtr)
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