All together, the sanctions target 25 individuals or entities.
The Treasury Department on Friday announced a new wave of sanctions against Iran, taking formal action against the Islamic Republic just two days after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the U.S. was “officially putting Iran on notice.”
The sanctions come in response to Iran’s continuing ballistic missile program as well as its continued support for organizations designated by the U.S. government to be terrorist groups, a trio of senior administration officials said during a background briefing with reporters. Iran’s recent test of a ballistic missile, which the U.S. considers to be a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, was the triggering event for the sanctions, one of the officials said.
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According to the Treasury Department release, the sanctions target “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.”
In addition to its missile program, the administration officials briefing reporters also made specific mention of attacks launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen against Saudi and Emirati vessels. One official said that Iran has “heavy influence” over the Houthi rebels and “is responsible for the access to arms, not necessarily responsible for every tactical decision.”
More broadly, one official offered Iran’s backing of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as proof that it backs terrorist groups, while another added that “Iran, in its relationships with proxies throughout the region, bears responsibility for these groups that they are closely entwined with.”
The officials did not answer a reporter’s question as to whether the United States considers the Houthi rebels to be a terrorist group. They also refused to comment when asked if the new administration of President Donald Trump has had any direct contact with the Iranian government since it assumed power two weeks ago.
At his daily briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer indicated that the sanctions introduced Friday had been in process for some time but did not say whether they had been worked on under the administration of former President Barack Obama. During the earlier briefing for reporters, a senior administration official said that « we have consistently been following up and researching targets » but did not say whether the sanctions released Friday had been teed up in any way under Obama.
« These kind of sanctions don’t happen quickly, but I think the timing of them was clearly in reaction to what we’ve seen over the last couple days. We knew we had these options available to us because they had been worked through the process, but we acted swiftly and decisively today because the timing was right, » Spicer said. « So you know, They were in the pipeline More hints. They had been staffed and approved and the president made the decision now was the time to do it based on recent action. »
Friday’s sanctions are “just initial steps in response to Iranian provocative behavior,” one senior administration official said without elaborating further as to what future steps might be. Administration officials have pointedly refused to take any steps, including military action, off the table, acting on one of Trump’s campaign promises not to telegraph what the U.S. is and is not prepared to do.
“Iran has to determine its response to our actions. Iran has a choice to make,” the senior administration official said. “We are going to continue to respond to their behavior in an ongoing way, at an appropriate level, to continue to pressure them to change their behavior.”
The United States has had various forms of strict sanctions on Iran for decades, and it’s difficult to see how a new set will significantly affect a bilateral relationship that is already very limited in terms of trade, financial and other exchanges.
That means that if Iran goes ahead and defies the Trump administration by testing more missiles in the coming weeks, the United States could be under pressure to do more to put Iran “on notice” as it did earlier this week when it hinted the sanctions were coming.
Adding to the challenge facing the Trump administration is the fact that it needs to structure the sanctions in a way that doesn’t violate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was struck during former President Barack Obama’s tenure. Under that agreement, the U.S. and several other countries lifted a broad range of nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Those sanctions had a lot of bite, because European countries that levied many of them had significant business ties.
In its Friday morning statement, the Treasury Department said the new sanctions are « fully consistent with the United States’ commitments under the » nuclear agreement.
“Iran’s continued support for terrorism and development of its ballistic missile program poses a threat to the region, to our partners worldwide, and to the United States. Today’s action is part of Treasury’s ongoing efforts to counter Iranian malign activity abroad that is outside the scope of the JCPOA,” the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Acting Director John E. Smith said, using the abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement, the nuclear deal’s formal title. “We will continue to actively apply all available tools, including financial sanctions, to address this behavior.”
None of the entities or individuals who had sanctions against them lifted under the nuclear deal have been re-sanctioned, senior administration officials said. They also said that the Iranian government’s deal with American aircraft manufacturer Boeing to purchase 80 airplanes, perhaps the highest profile deal made possible by the loosening of sanctions on Iran in connection with the nuclear deal, will not be directly affected by the new sanctions announced Friday.
Despite the nuclear deal, the U.S. has retained sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile tests, its human rights programs and its sponsorship of terrorism. It’s under those categories that the Trump administration can add more sanctions. But because of the limited U.S. interaction with Tehran, it’s unlikely to have a tremendous impact on any Iranian entities.
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