The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran following several tension-filled days after the country launched a weekend missile test. In addition, Iran sponsored an apparent terror attack on a Saudi naval vessel by the Houthi movement (of Yemen). Both incidents prompted National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn to take a hard-line approach with a speech that put Iran “on notice.”
In response, Iran blew off the Trump White House as “inexperienced” and vowed to continue testing, which appears to defy the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran made with other world powers. However, the country insists that they are not “prohibited” from missile tests, only asked to “refrain” from them.
Iran’s defiant response to the White House — along with the fact that Donald Trump believes that Iran “should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them” — has now resulted in the U.S. leveling fresh sanctions against Iran. The New York Times has more details on the sanctions:
The Trump administration on Friday designated 25 individuals and entities associated “with Iran’s ballistic missile program,” including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, for sanctions in response to the missile test last weekend, according to a senior administration official.
The sanctions targeted “multiple entities and individuals involved in procuring technology and/or materials to support Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as for acting for or on behalf of, or providing support to, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” according to a Treasury Department statement.
The sanctions will aim to curb the missile program’s suppliers, along with those who aid, abet, and arm terror acts like the Iran-sponsored attack on the Saudi ship. This move meets approval from the GOP-led Congress, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who recently co-authored a Fox News op-ed, which quoted Mark Twain while criticizing the Obama administration for only employing “tough words” against Iran without action.
(Via New York Times & Fox News)