‘Surrender or Collapse:’ Israel welcomes US new sanctions on Iran
Israel has welcomed the latest set of sanctions the US imposed against Iran, saying they will lead Iran “to surrender or to collapse.”
Israel Katz
The White House stated Monday that “in response to escalating aggression from Iran,” President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order imposing sanctions Iran’s Supreme Ayatollah Leader Ali Khamenei, his office, and its appointees.
The sanctions will deny Iran’s leadership access to financial resources, blocking them from using the US financial system or accessing any assets in the US.
Trump will “keep maximum pressure on Iran until the regime abandons its malign behavior,” the White House added.
“We call on the regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions, change its destructive behavior, respect the rights of its people, and return in good faith to the negotiating table,” Trump stated.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated Monday evening that he “supports” Trump in his decision to toughen the sanctions on Iran.
“The economic war led by the US against Iran’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons and its support for terrorism is a right step that leaves the Iranian regime two options – to surrender or to collapse,” he said.
Brigadier-General Ali-Reza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Navy, Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force that shot down the US drone last week, and Brigadier-General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the IRGC’s ground forces are included in the sanctions.
US Secretary of Treasury Department Steven Munchin said that Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif will be targeted with sanctions later this week.
The US has already re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy after it left the 2015 nuclear deal. The sanctions ended all the economic benefits the US granted Tehran for the nuclear deal. The new sanctions particularly hurt Iran’s oil industry, a crucial source of currency for its weak economy. Its national currency has plummeted, sending prices skyrocketing.
Other previously imposed sanctions targeted Iran’s central bank, financial transactions that involve US dollars, Iran’s automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.
“The useless sanctioning of Islamic Revolution Supreme Leader and the commander of Iranian diplomacy means closing the doors of diplomacy by the US desperate administration,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted Tuesday in response to the latest US move.
“Trump’s government is annihilating all the established international mechanisms for keeping peace and security in the world,” he charged.
However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions are an important pillar in US policy toward Iran and will remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.
“They’ve got to behave like a normal country. That’s the ask. It’s pretty simple,” said Pompeo in August 2018.
