Trump Announces Highest Sanctions Ever against the Iranian People in Wake of Saudi Attack

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has applied a new wave of measures that target the Iranian people as he imposed new sanctions on Iran's central bank, in wake of the Yemeni resistance operation that targeted a Saudi oil facility that the US has blamed on Tehran.

Trump said they are the highest sanctions ever imposed on a foreign country by the United States. He spoke to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC alongside visiting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

For his part, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the White House that the bank was Tehran's last source of funds.

Trump made the announcement as he prepares to meet with his national security council to weigh options for responding to the operation, which US officials claim was carried out by drone and missiles and which affected 5% of the world's global oil supplies.

Iran, however, denied responsibility. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarullah revolutionary movement said it is behind the attack.

Relatively, Trump's full national security council will meet later Friday to discuss options on Iran, according to a senior administration official. This comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returns from a trip to the region where he consulted with Saudi rulers and other Gulf allies on the situation in the region and next possible steps.

Pompeo is expected to formally update the group on what he heard from the Saudis. As he departed the region, he signaled the US would stop short of strikes, saying he was seeking a "peaceful resolution" to the situation.

Trump, who has campaigned on extricating the US from the Middle East and endless wars, is expected to decide on whether to go forward with these deployments by the end of the week.