THE US issued new sanctions yesterday against banks, exchange houses and facilitators accused of helping Iran’s ruling elite move hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Treasury Department issued sanctions to dismantle what it called a web of currency exchange houses and shell companies.
“Through these networks, Tehran accessed oil revenue and evaded sanctions designed to curb its destabilising activities, laundering funds using front companies,” State Department Spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a separate statement.
Pigott said the latest action demonstrates the Trump Administration’s continued maximum pressure on Iran by cutting off resources the regime uses to threaten regional stability, support terrorism, and advance its military capabilities.
“By targeting the banks, exchange houses, and individual facilitators that operate this illicit system, the United States makes clear that those who help Iran evade sanctions will face serious consequences,” he said.
Pigott also said the US was committed to working with its regional partners to close “every avenue” Iran uses to fund its destabilising activities, adding that Iran’s continued support for terrorism and regional aggression would carry “a steep and lasting cost.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said the Iran war, which he framed as a ‘very important excursion’, should be over ‘pretty soon’.
Commenting on the status of talks with Iran – which he said he’s involved with – during a question-and-answer session with reporters early yesterday morning, he said, “I don’t think they can go much longer,” adding that his team is ‘doing fine’ in the negotiations.
He reiterated that Iran can’t be allowed to have the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.
Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is ‘sort of open right now’ while being controlled by the US Navy blockade.
“Now, we control it, but they can always shoot something,” he said. “They always have something or drop a mine. And if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up, because people don’t want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine. But I think we’re doing very well.”
The US president again brushed off reports of munitions shortages, telling reporters that the US military has a ‘virtual unlimited supply’ of some munitions while admitting there are ‘others where it’s a little bit tighter’.
“We have literally massive amounts of ammunition,” he said.
Despite the weapons supply on hand, Trump said the military needs ‘more all the time’, which he said is why the administration has put in a $21 billion request for additional munitions.
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