US slaps new sanctions on people and companies to stifle Iran
Washington, May 11 (IBNS): Days after pulling out of the much debated Iran nuclear deal, Washington has slapped new sanctions on six people and three companies with alleged links to Iran's elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Trump Administration's decision was conveyed by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Mnuchin said that sanctions were imposed on those who helped the IRGC with funds.
"The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the (IRGC's) malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups," Mnuchin said in a statement.
"We are intent on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination," he added.
The six individuals have been identified as Iranians. The statement added that these individuals will be unable to do business with ether people or firms from the US.
The US sanction was welcomed by the United Arab Emirates, a key Middle Eastern ally to the Trump regime.
In an expected yet undesirable move, On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump, announced at the White House that his country would be withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal or the The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unilaterally begin reinstating economic sanctions against Iran at “the highest level”.
The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," he said.
He even called the deal as "decaying and rotten".
He said: "The Iran Deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know what will happen. In just a short time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons."
Trump said: "At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction: that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program. Today, we have definitive proof that this Iranianpromise was a lie."
Though the move garnered support from the Gulf and Israel, it was slammed by many.
Former US President Barack Obama, under whose term the deal was signed, criticised his successor Donald Trump's decision to pull the country out of it.
In a tweet, Obama said: "There are few issues more important to the security of the US than the potential spread of nuclear weapons or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. Today’s decision to put the JCPOA at risk is a serious mistake."
In his statement, which has been posted on Facebook, Obama said: "The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working – that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. The JCPOA is in America’s interest – it has significantly rolled back Iran’s nuclear program.
"And the JCPOA is a model for what diplomacy can accomplish – its inspections and verification regime is precisely what the United States should be working to put in place with North Korea. Indeed, at a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes – with Iran – the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans."
Image: Donald Trump/Twitter
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