Donald Trump Slams Iran’s National Bank With ‘Highest Sanctions Ever Imposed On A Country’
On Friday, President Donald Trump announced at least one of his administration’s responses to Iran on the heels of recent alleged military action against a Saudi Arabian oil facility that temporarily disrupted the global oil supply.
According to Politico, Trump revealed to reporters in the Oval Office that he slapped heavy financial sanctions on Iran, claiming they were the strongest sanctions against the country to date.
“You will be seeing certain things happening but a very major factor is what we did,” Trump said. “The highest sanctions ever imposed on a country. We’ve never done it to this level.”
The heavy sanctions are the latest in a series of sanctions the Trump administration has leveled against Iran dating back to the U.S. withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal struck with the country under President Barack Obama. Before Friday’s sanctions announcement, the United States had already targeted a number of Iranian sectors, including their oil, mining, and metal industries. Their ability to receive international financing was also hamstrung in an earlier round of sanctions.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained to reporters on Friday that the new sanctions essentially cut off “all sources of funds to Iran,” and said they will affect “the last remaining source of funds for both the central bank of Iran, as well as the national development fund — which is their sovereign wealth fund.”
Iran has previously labeled the long list of sanctions against them as “economic warfare.”
The latest blow to Iran’s economic infrastructure by the United States seemingly points to the Trump administration staying the course on their “maximum pressure” strategy to bring Iran back to the negotiating table. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has insisted that the only way that’ll be possible is if the U.S. lifts some sanctions as a precondition of resuming talks.
As reported by The Inquisitr, Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the recent drone attack on Saudi’s state-run oil facility, even going as far as claiming the country is ready for “full-fledged war” against the United States should retaliatory military action be initiated by the Trump administration.
Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, even claiming they had help from inside Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia and other countries have remained firm in their accusation that Iran was ultimately behind the drone strikes. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also publicly pointed the blame finger at Iran.
It’s important to note that Trump indicated that the new round of sanctions doesn’t take potential military action off the table, saying “Iran knows if they misbehave they are on borrowed time.”
