New Iran Sanctions on Khamenei & IRGCNew Sanctions Hit Khamenei & IRGC Bank AccountsTrump signed executive orders imposing new sanctions on Iran. These new sanctions are directly on Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and IRGC covering billions of dollars. Trump is hitting Ayatollah Khamenei and IRGC on their wallets where it hurts.
VideosTrump signs executive order issuing new sanctions on Iranhttps://youtu.be/AU-ZSmgW3gsBackup Filehttps://youtu.be/a50JzzaaaGkSteve Mnuchin lays out sanction detailshttps://youtu.be/67eFCegp2pEBackup Filehttps://youtu.be/VH75-HlZous*
Iran: New US sanctions target Supreme Leader KhameneiBBC
https://www.bbc.com/US President Donald Trump has said he is imposing hard-hitting new sanctions on Iran, including on the office of the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Mr Trump said the additional sanctions were in response to the shooting down of a US drone and "many other things".
Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's highest authority, was singled out because he was "ultimately responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime".
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the Americans "despise diplomacy".
In a tweet sent after the announcement, Mr Zarif also accused the Trump administration of having a "thirst for war".
Tensions between the two countries have been escalating in recent weeks.
However, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Mr Trump's executive order - which would lock up "billions" of dollars in Iranian assets - was in the works before Tehran shot down an unmanned US drone in the Gulf last week.
Who is affected?
The US Treasury department said eight senior Iranian commanders who "sit atop a bureaucracy that supervises the IRGC's [the elite Islamic Revolution Guard Corps] malicious regional activities", were being targeted.
It added that Mr Trump's executive order would also "deny Iran's leadership access to financial resources and authorises the targeting of persons appointed to certain official or other positions by the Supreme Leader or the Supreme Leader's Office", as well as foreign financial institutions which help them conduct transitions.
The US has alleged Ayatollah Khamenei has vast wealth which helps funds the IRCG. In a 2018 op-ed, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested his personal wealth was as much as $95bn (£75bn) which was "used as a slush fund for the IRGC".
Sanctions will also be imposed on Mr Zarif later this week, according to Mr Mnuchin.
Why is the US imposing sanctions now?Back in May 2018, the White House reinstated all sanctions removed under a 2015 nuclear deal made with world powers which sought to prevent Iran creating its own nuclear weapon.
Relations between the two nations continued to sour, and in May - a year after Mr Trump abandoned the nuclear deal - the US stepped up pressure on Iran by ending exemptions from secondary sanctions for countries still buying Iranian oil.
This was followed by a series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf, which the White House said Iran was behind. Tehran has denied all allegations.
Iranian officials then announced the country was set to breach the limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium that was set under the 2015 deal on 27 June.
Days later, the drone was shot down over what the US says was international waters, but Iran says was its territory.
How have earlier US sanctions hit Iran?
The sanctions - particularly those imposed on the energy, shipping and financial sectors - caused foreign investment to dry up and hit oil exports.
They bar US companies from trading with Iran, but also with foreign firms or countries that are dealing with Iran.
This has led to shortages of imported goods and products that are made with raw materials from abroad, most notably babies' nappies.
The plunging value of the national currency, the rial, has also affected the cost of locally produced staples such as meat and eggs, which have soared in price.
Iran has responded to the economic pressure by saying it planned to violate some of the nuclear deal's commitments. It has also accused European countries of failing to live up to their promises of protecting Iran's economy from US sanctions.
What happened to the US drone?Iran's IRGC said the drone's downing was a "clear message" to the US that Iran's borders were "our red line".
But US military officials maintain the drone was in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at the time.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a high-ranking officer in the IRGC, said another military aircraft, carrying 35 passengers, had been flying close to the drone. "We could have shot down that one too, but we did not," he said.
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Trump’s New Sanctions On Iran Target Supreme Leader KhameneiRFE
https://www.rferl.org/IranU.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing "hard-hitting" sanctions on Iran, including on the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as tensions between the two nations heat up.
The sanctions will deny Iran’s leader and those close to him “access to key financial resources and support," Trump said as he signed the document in the Oval Office on June 24.
Trump said he will “continue to increase pressure” on Iran until the regime ends its “dangerous activities and its aspirations,” including its pursuit of nuclear weapons, development of ballistic missiles, and support of terrorism.
However, he pointed out that the United States doesn’t “ask for conflict” and added that depending on Iran's response the sanctions could end tomorrow -- or it "can also be years from now."
The new round of sanctions also includes eight members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. It will lock up billions of dollars in Iranian assets, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin added Trump has authorized him to impose sanctions on Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif this week.
Shortly after the new sanctions were announced in Washington, Zarif said on Twitter that some U.S. politicians “despise diplomacy.” Zarif accused the Trump administration of having a “thirst for war.”
Javad Zarif:.@realDonaldTrump is 100% right that the US military has no business in the Persian Gulf. Removal of its forces is fully in line with interests of US and the world. But it's now clear that the #B_Team is not concerned with US interests—they despise diplomacy, and thirst for war.
Iranian hard-line media said the new sanctions are based on “fabricated” accusations.
The sanctions come as tensions between Iran and the United States escalate, raising concerns the U.S. could pursue military action against the Islamic regime.
Gulf TensionsU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met June 24 with leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as he seeks to build a coalition against Tehran.
The U.S. accused Iran of sabotaging two oil tankers earlier this month in the Gulf of Omen, which Tehran denies.
Last week, Iran shot down a U.S. military drone it said was flying over its territory. The United States has said the drone was in international skies.
Trump said on June 21 that he came within minutes of executing strikes against Iran in retaliation for the downing of the drone. He left open the question of a military response.
“Who knows what is going to happen? I can only tell you we cannot ever let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” said Trump, adding he is open to talks with the country’s leaders.
Trump made taking a tough stance toward Iran and its nuclear program a key element of his 2016 campaign and has followed through on that promise since coming to power.
Last year, he withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that sought to curb the country’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of sanctions.
Former U.S. officials and allies called Trump’s action's a mistake.
Trump called the agreement “short-sighted” and claimed that under its terms Iran would have been able to develop nuclear weapons in a few years.
“The [2015] agreement that was signed was a disaster. It was not doing what it was supposed to do,” he said June 24.
The president has imposed sanctions on more than 900 Iranian individuals and companies since 2018, squeezing the oil-producing nation financially.
Earlier this month, his administration imposed sanctions on Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, the country’s largest petrochemical company and one of its biggest exporters.