President Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Iran’s national bank on Sept. 20, touting them as the “highest sanctions ever imposed on a country.”
Speaking to reporters in the White House, Trump said the sanctions were in response to Iran’s support of terror throughout the Middle East. He added that Iran is “broke” and that he’ll use military action against Iran if necessary.
“Iran knows if they misbehave, they’re on borrowed time,” Trump said.
Treasury Department Secretary Steve Mnuchin condemned Iran’s Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities as “unacceptable” in a Sept. 20 statement.
“Treasury’s action targets a crucial funding mechanism that the Iranian regime uses to support its terrorist network, including the Quds Force, Hezbollah and other militants that spread terror and destabilize the region,” Mnuchin said.
A Sept. 13 Fox News report stated that Iran’s pension funds are on the “brink of collapse” as a result of the Trump administration’s sanctions, noting that 17 of the country’s 18 pension funds are at a negative balance.
Israel’s New York Consul General Dani Dayan told Yahoo! Finance on Sept. 18 that the Israeli government supports the Trump administration’s policy of ramping up sanctions against Iran.
“Iran has less recourse to give to the proxy terrorists they support, to promote terrorism all over the world, to promote instability all over the world, to supply arms to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations,” Dayan said.
