US President Donald Trump has signed off "hard-hitting" sanctions in opposition to Iran which he says will goal the country's supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The moves comes amid escalating tensions between the two countries after Tehran shot down an American drone final week.
Speaking in the Oval Office at the White House, Mr Trump said he used to be signing an executive order to impose sparkling economic sanctions due to Iran's "increasingly provocative actions".
US President Donald Trump suggests an executive order on sanctions on Iran's supreme chief in the Oval Office of the White House on June 24, 2019. (Photo by way of
The president stated Iran's supreme chief used to be responsible for "the adversarial conduct of the regime" and the sanctions will deny him and his workplace "access to key financial resources and support".
"Never can Iran have a nuclear weapon," Mr Trump said.
"They are the quantity one sponsor of terror somewhere in the world."
He added: "We do no longer searching for conflict with Iran or any other country. I appear forward to the day when sanctions can sooner or later be lifted and Iran can become a peaceful, prosperous and productive nation."
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin stated the new sanctions will lock up billions of additional dollars in Iranian assets.
However Russia has stated it will counter the sanctions - which have been branded "illegal" via Moscow - and known as for communicate between the US and Iran.
Mr Trump at the start informed journalists the sanctions had been in response to the capturing down of the $100m unmanned US drone over the Strait of Hormuz, but later claimed they would have been imposed regardless of the incident.
Irans navy has launched video which it claims shows a US surveillance drone being shot down by using Iranian forces
Iran has said the drone was flying in its airspace, which Washington has denied.
The US has sought to rally assist in the Middle East and Europe for a hard-line stance against Iran that has brought it to the verge of battle with its longtime foe.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia - a rival of Iran - on Monday the place he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The US has accused Iran of encouraging allies in Yemen to assault Saudi targets.
In a joint announcement on Monday, the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK expressed subject over the risks posed by Iranian "destabilising activity" to peace and protection in Yemen and the region.
American has also blamed Iran for assaults on tankers in the Gulf in recent weeks - for which Tehran has denied duty - and the US says it is building a coalition with allies to defend Gulf shipping lanes.
The White House confirmed the US launched cyber assaults against Iran, pronouncing it disabled the country's Genius structures which controlled its rocket and missile launchers.
However Iran claimed the cyber attacks were a failure, with the country's minister for information and communications technology saying on Twitter: "They attempt hard, but have not carried out a profitable attack."
It comes after Mr Trump said ultimate week that he pulled out of airstrikes in retaliation for Iran's downing of the US drone due to the fact it would have killed 150 people.
Tensions between the two nations have risen considering the fact that the US pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal that world powers signed with Iran and it has already applied crushing sanctions on the country's economy.
0 Comments