In the wake of a deadly drone and missile attack on a Saudi Aramco oil facility that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has blamed on Tehran, US President Donald Trump on Friday imposed another round of sanctions on Iran.
The latest sanctions target the Central Bank of Iran, the National Development Fund of Iran and the company Etemad Tejarate Pars Co (which US officials say was used ot conceal financial transfers for Iranian military purchases).
Speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Trump said, “I think the sanctions work” adding that “the military would work” as well, though, but that that would be “a very severe form of winning.”
The newest round of sanctions comes after Trump threatened the same following the attack on the Saudi Arabian oil plants, which knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production and cut 5.7 million barrels of oil a day from the global oil supply.
US sanctions on Iran that had been lifted or waived under the erstwhile Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—otherwise known as the Iran Nuclear Deal—were reimposed in while on November 4, 2018.
Those sanctions targeted Iran’s energy, shipping, shipbuilding and financial sectors, and included more than 700 individuals, entities, aircraft and vessels.
The US has since threatened countries and companies that continued to trade with Iran, whether American or otherwise, with fines or legal action. In April, 2019, the US threatened to sanction countries that continued to buy Iranian oil after a six-month waiver expired. That same month, Iran reciprocated by designating all US troops in the middle east as terrorists.
In June and July of 2019, the US sanctioned Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the country’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif respectively.
