One day after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn announced that the United States had put Iran “on notice” over its failed ballistic missile test last weekend, and as Pr*sident Donald Trump and Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif traded tweet barbs, the U.S. Treasury announced new economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic Friday. The sanctions target 13 individuals and 12 entities for supporting Iran’s missile program, for reputedly having ties to terrorism or in various ways supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The sanctioned entities include companies based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and China. From CNN:
“Iran’s continued support for terrorism and development of its ballistic missile program poses a threat to the region, to our partners world-wide and to the United States,” said John Smith, the acting director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. “We will continue to actively apply all available tools, including financial sanctions, to address this behavior.”
The Trump regime was careful in its sanctioning not to breach the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated between Iran and six other nations, including the United States. But Iranian officials have long said that any new U.S. sanctions would constitute a violation of the agreement. Although U.N. Resolution 2231 prohibits Iran from testing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Iran’s leaders, with transparent disingenuousness, said the missile they tested does not violate the resolution because the nation is prohibited from developing nuclear weapons.
Whatever their impact on the nuclear agreement, the sanctions are the first official action displaying the more aggressive stance from Washington against Tehran. No surprise since Trump gave strong indications during his campaign that he wants major changes or elimination of what he labels the “terrible” agreement hammered out to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for extensively altering its nuclear development program.
Nick Wadhams and Saleha Mohsin report:
The Trump administration has taken a hard line on Iran, banning its citizens from entering the U.S. and accusing the nation of interfering in the affairs of U.S. allies in the Middle East. While such an approach could satisfy hawks in Washington who were never comfortable with President Barack Obama’s tentative rapprochement with Iran, it could also unsettle domestic Iranian politics as President Hassan Rouhani seeks re-election in May. [...]
The move was praised by Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who said it “makes clear that it is a new day in U.S.-Iran relations and that we will no longer tolerate Iran’s destabilizing behavior.”
Ahead of the announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, "Iran unmoved by threats as we derive security from our people." He added later: "We will never use our weapons against anyone, except in self-defense."
It’s difficult to determine at this point how far and how fast relations between Iran and the United States will deteriorate. In response to the U.S. Muslim travel ban, Tehran has barred U.S. travel to Iran, will stop using the dollar in official statements and financial reporting, and has barred U.S. wrestlers from the Freestyle World Cup competition.
But since the hard-liners in the United States and the hard-liners in Iran have all along been opposed to the nuclear agreement, anything that can undermine continuing it in its present form is a win for them. And a danger for everyone else.