Trump Signs Executive Order Delivering ‘Hard-Hitting’ Sanctions Against Iran

President Trump struck back Monday at Iran by issuing “hard-hitting” financial sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates.

“Today’s action follows a series of aggressive behaviors by the Iranian regime in recent weeks including shooting down a U.S. drone,” the president said in the Oval Office, calling Khamenei “responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime.”

Trump said the sanctions “will deny the supreme leader and the supreme leader’s office and those closely affiliated with him and the office access to key financial resources and support.” Speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sanctions “lock up literally billions of dollars more of assets.”

“Along with that action today, we are also announcing specific actions targeting those responsible for recent activities,” Mnuchin said, adding that the president has instructed him to sanction Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif “later this week.”

The Treasury Department, in a news release, said “any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant financial transaction for entities designated under this Executive Order could be cut off from the U.S. financial system.”

Former top Oregon GOP official secures nomination for governor as Republicans target blue-state pickup

Trump-backed senator cruises to primary win, setting up potential 4th term

Bob Brooks wins Pennsylvania’s 7th District primary to take on Ryan Mackenzie in general election

Three stabbed at crowded Rhode Island beach as hundreds of teens pack area, police say

Bob Harvie wins Pennsylvania’s 1st District primary to set showdown with Brian Fitzpatrick

Trump ally Tommy Tuberville cruises to Alabama GOP governor nomination

Kentucky physician advances to general election after receiving glowing Trump endorsement: ‘True friend’

Pentagon cuts Brigade Combat Teams in Europe as Trump pressures NATO on spending

Stelson-Perry rematch set in Pennsylvania’s 10th District

Gallup Poll: Americans Would Rather Live Near a Nuclear Power Plant Than an AI Data Center

Breaking: Thomas Massie Loses to Trump-Backed Ed Gallrein in Hotly Contested Primary

Tragic: College Football Player Dead at 22, Coach Says ‘He Will Be Sincerely Missed’

Ketanji Brown Jackson Publicly Trashes All 8 of Her Fellow Supreme Court Justices

Trump admin readies Raul Castro indictment as fatal shootdown case resurfaces: sources

Oklahoma Newspaper Pulls Jewish Writer’s Op-Ed Praising OKC Thunder and Israel for Thriving Against Bigger Rivals

Amid the newly announced sanctions, Fox News has confirmed that the U.S. military also carried out a cyberattack against Iran last Thursday even as the president nixed plans for airstrikes in response to the downing of an American drone.

Sources said U.S. Cyber Command launched the cyberattack targeting the Iranian intelligence and radar installations used to down the U.S. Navy drone last week.

Fox News has learned Iran shut off some of its military radar sites around the time the U.S. was poised to launch retaliatory strikes. It’s not clear if those radar sites were turned off by the cyberattack or if Iran shut them off deliberately in anticipation of this.

Yahoo! News first reported on the retaliatory cyber strike. It came as the White House and Pentagon were also considering military strikes, but Trump revealed last Friday that he called them off after learning up to 150 Iranians could be killed.