Washington- The US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran Friday in response to a ballistic missile test over the weekend as President Donald Trump signalled that his administration will take a tougher tone with Tehran.
The US Treasury Department added 13 individuals and 12 companies to its sanctions list for their role in Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well as for providing support to the Corps-Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
“Iran’s continued support for terrorism and development of its ballistic missile programme poses a threat to the region, to our partners worldwide, and to the United States,” said John Smith, acting director of the Treasury Department’s sanctions office.
The sanctions freeze any assets the named parties might have in US banks and prohibit US companies and people doing business with them.
An Iranian surface-to-air missile is launched during a military drill at an undisclosed location in Iran, on Nov. 14, 2012. (Credit Image: © Majid Asgaripour/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com) Photo: Majid Asgaripour via Xinhua/ZUMA/dpa
Iran criticized the move, saying it would not allow its domestic security to become the focus of international debate.
“The amateur and irrational policies of the new US administration will change nothing about the principles of Iranian politics,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The fresh sanctions come under a framework that allows the US to target Tehran over its missile programme, support for terrorism and other matters.
The Treasury Department sanctions take aim at “a critical Iranian procurement agent” and those associated with his network in Iran and China, as well as other individuals connected to Iran’s Mabrooka Trading, which had previously been sanctioned for procurement activities.
The Qods Force designations hit a support network working with Hezbollah in Lebanon and an individual involved in procurement for the group.
Trump made clear Thursday that a military response remained a possibility. “Nothing’s off the table,” Trump told reporters.
When asked about the sanctions Friday, he responded, “they’re not behaving.” Senior US officials said further actions were possible as the Trump administration weighs its broader UN policy.
“Iran has to determine its response to our actions. Iran has a choice to make,” said a senior administration official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. “We are going to continue to respond to their behaviour in an ongoing way at an appropriate level to continue to pressure them to change their behaviour.”
National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said Wednesday the missile test was a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran from taking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.
On Friday, Flynn stressed that the sanctions target Iran for bad behaviour that “seems continuous despite the very favourable deal given to Iran by the Obama administration,” referring to the international nuclear deal that went into effect last year.
Speaking at the UN, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday he understood the decision to impose new sanctions, but said that they should not affect the deal.
Flynn said the international community has been too tolerant of Iran’s bad behaviour. “The ritual of convening a United Nations Security Council in an emergency meeting and issuing a strong statement is not enough,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier defended his country’s missile programme and rejected US criticism.
“We’ll never initiate war, but we can only rely on our own means of defense,” Zarif said on Twitter on Friday.
“We will never use our weapons against anyone, except in self-defence. Let us see if any of those who complain can make the same statement,” Zarif said in a later tweet.
Iran maintains the missile cannot carry a nuclear warhead and the test was not in violation of the UN resolution.
The White House however says the medium-range missile launched Sunday was “inherently capable” of being used to launch a nuclear weapon.
– dpa
