Trump Regime Escalates Illegal Sanctions War on Iran
Both right wings of the US war party use illegal sanctions as weapons of war by other means against nonbelligerent countries threatening no one Washington doesn't control.
Imposing them targets ordinary people most of all, aiming to inflict maximum immiseration, a key feature of imperial ruthlessness.
On Friday, Trump's Treasury Department illegally sanctioned the Central Bank of Iran, the country's National Development Fund, and Etemad Tejarate Pars, an Iranian company.
A department statement falsely accused Tehran of a "brazen attack against Saudi Arabia..."
Fact: No evidence suggests Iranian involvement in week ago strikes by Yemeni Houthis on key Saudi oil facilities - retaliating against kingdom aggression, their legal right under international law.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin "brazenly" lied, claiming Iran's Central Bank and the National Development Fund "have been used...to move (Tehran's) foreign currency reserves for terrorist proxies" - how the US and its imperial allies operate in all their war theaters, not Tehran, opposing terrorism, not supporting it.
Mnuchin subordinate Sigal Mandelker threatened nations that "continu(e) work(ing) with (Iran's) Central Bank."
Russian Foreign Ministry official Zamir Kabulov responded to new Trump regime sanctions on Iran, saying the following:
"This will not affect our approaches to Iran. As we planned, we will continue to cooperate with Iran in the banking sector. This will have no effect" on Moscow's relations with the country.
China and other nations likely have similar views. Iran fulfills its international obligations, threatening no one - the US an aggressor, threatening humanity.
Unilaterally imposed US sanctions on Iran and other countries flagrantly violate international law.
Nations observing them are complicit with US lawlessness. No one should bend to policies aiming to undermine other states and inflict harm on their people.
The US is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, not nonbelligerent Iran.
Its "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran failed. Its propaganda increasingly falls flat.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the Trump regime "ha(s) to admit that sanctions are a failed policy, and the overuse of this tool and its manipulation as a weapon has put the US credibility and its economy to serious test in the international community where the time of America as a reliable economic partner has expired," adding:
The US "lacks the capability of coming up with any sensible and dynamic diplomatic initiative to peacefully resolve disputes with other countries" - calling its agenda "confused and...desperate (based on) bullying, unilateralism and waging economic terrorism against others."
In New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly session, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif slammed Trump regime lawlessness, saying:
Newly imposed US sanctions on Iran's banking sector shows its "desperate approach" toward the country, adding:
"The Americans have imposed any sanctions they could on the Islamic Republic. What they are doing now is sanctioning an entity which has been sanctioned before under a different pretext."
"The new sanctions are aimed at blocking Iran's international transactions and its access to food and medicine. This move is unacceptable and dangerous."
Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdonnaser Hemmati said US sanctions on "the CBI again shows how empty their hands are in finding leverage against Iran," adding:
"If such measures had been effective in pushing the cruel demands of (the Trump regime), the economic situation in (Iran) would be very different from the current one."
"The repeated failures of the US (regime) over the past year and a half show that these sanctions have become more ineffective than ever."
Iran's IRGC commander General Hossein Salami warned that any foreign power involved in attacking the country militarily will be retaliated against strongly in response. "We will hit anyone who violates our borders," he stressed, adding:
"The threats from enemies taught us how to extend the range and destructive power of weapons. (A) limited aggression will not remain limited."
The ball is in Trump's court for greater war or stepping from the brink responsibly.
Its accusations against Iran are baseless. What establishment media should report they're silent on, supporting US aggression instead of denouncing it.
VISIT MY NEW WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
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