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.”
Netanyahu’s government fractures after ultra-Orthodox pullout over conscription
James Comer subpoenas former Biden deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini
Grassley blocks Democrats’ call for Bove ‘whistleblower’ hearing
Teen run over by a truck while sunbathing on the beach
Innocent hiker mistaken for fugitive dad accused of killing his three daughters
Quick-Thinking Florida Teen Fights Off Alligator with Her Bare Hands: ‘Credit to God’
Cartel drones pose ‘dangerous’ drug trafficking risk in border state, official warns
Here’s the money people in each state could pocket under Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ savings
Trump Says He Just Learned That Adam Schiff Engaged in ‘Very Serious Crimes’
Watch: UFC Star Gets on the Phone with Trump Immediately After Big Win
Attacks on first responders would be federal crime under bipartisan bill
UK smuggled in thousands of Afghans after 2022 data leak
GOP’s Mike Rogers raises $1.5 million in bid to flip Michigan Senate seat
Republican leading House Budget Committee looks ahead after passing Big Beautiful Bill
Yankees Star Aaron Judge Includes Subtle Biblical Message on His All-Star Game Gear
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.
Netanyahu’s government fractures after ultra-Orthodox pullout over conscription
James Comer subpoenas former Biden deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini
Grassley blocks Democrats’ call for Bove ‘whistleblower’ hearing
Teen run over by a truck while sunbathing on the beach
Innocent hiker mistaken for fugitive dad accused of killing his three daughters
Quick-Thinking Florida Teen Fights Off Alligator with Her Bare Hands: ‘Credit to God’
Cartel drones pose ‘dangerous’ drug trafficking risk in border state, official warns
Here’s the money people in each state could pocket under Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ savings
Trump Says He Just Learned That Adam Schiff Engaged in ‘Very Serious Crimes’
Watch: UFC Star Gets on the Phone with Trump Immediately After Big Win
Attacks on first responders would be federal crime under bipartisan bill
UK smuggled in thousands of Afghans after 2022 data leak
GOP’s Mike Rogers raises $1.5 million in bid to flip Michigan Senate seat
Republican leading House Budget Committee looks ahead after passing Big Beautiful Bill
Yankees Star Aaron Judge Includes Subtle Biblical Message on His All-Star Game Gear
“I stopped it, not … proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone,” he tweeted at the time.
The drone shoot-down was only the latest flare-up in the region tied to Iran.
In recent weeks, six oil tankers have been attacked in the Gulf of Oman, which the U.S. and its Gulf allies blame on Iran.
Story cited here.