US Imposes Additional Sanctions on Iran After Missile Strikes

Additional sanctions were announced against Iran following the recent missile strikes against Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Jan. 10.

The sanctions, which include 17 specific sanctions against Irans largest steel, iron, aluminum, and copper manufacturers and eight senior Iranian officials who were involved in Tuesdays ballistic missile strike, come “as a result of the attack on U.S. and allied troops,” Mnuchin told reporters at the White House.

The senior officials include Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council; Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, deputy chief of staff of Iranian armed forces; and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

President Donald Trump issued an executive order enabling administration officials to sanction people operating in or transacting with additional sectors of the Iranian economy, including construction, mining, manufacturing, and textiles.

“Todays sanctions are part of our commitment to stop the Iranian regimes global terrorist activities,” he said, adding the sanctions would continue “until the regime stops the funding of global terrorism and commits to never having nuclear weapons.”

Trump said in a statement: “Today, I am holding the Iranian regime responsible for attacks against United States personnel and interests by denying it substantial revenue that may be used to fund and support its nuclear program, missile development, terrorism, and terrorist proxy networks, and malign regional influence.”

“The United States will continue to counter the Iranian regimes destructive and destabilizing behavior. Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. These punishing economic sanctions will remain until the Iranian regime changes its behavior. The United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it,” he added.

Residents look at a crater caused by a missile launched by Iran on U.S.-led coalition forces on the outskirts of Duhok, Iraq on Jan. 8, 2020. (Ari Jalal/Reuters)

What appears to be new damage at Al Asad air base in Iraq is seen in a satellite picture taken on Jan. 8, 2020. (Planet/Handout via Reuters)

Mnuchin said the economic sanctions were working. “If we didnt have these sanctions in place, Iran would literally have tens of billions of dollars,” he said, adding thRead More – Source
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