US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executiveorder imposing financial sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah AliKhamenei, in the wake of the Iranian downing of a US drone.
The sanctions “will deny the supreme leader and thesupreme leader’s office and those closely affiliated with him and the office,access to key financial resources and support,” the President toldreporters in the Oval Office before putting his signature to the document, theEfe news reported.
“Today’s actions follow a series of aggressivebehaviours by the Iranian regime in recent weeks, including shooting down of USdrones,” Trump said, flanked by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and VicePresident Mike Pence.
“The supreme leader of Iran is one who ultimately isresponsible of the hostile conduct of the regime. He’s respected within hiscountry. His office oversees the regime’s most brutal instruments, includingthe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the President said of Khamanei.
Until now, the US sanctions against Iran have targeted broadeconomic sectors and government entities, such as the Revolutionary Guard, asopposed to specific individuals.
At the same time, Trump reiterated his desire fornegotiations with Iran to reduce tensions, a proposal that Khamanei hasrebuffed.
“I think a lot of restraint has been shown by us andthat doesn’t mean we’re going to show it in the future,” the Presidentsaid. “But I felt I wanted to give this a chance, give it a good chance.Because I think Iran has potentially a phenomenal future.”
“These measures represent a strong and proportionateresponse to Iran’s increasingly provocative actions,” Trump said, daysafter vetoing a military response to the downing of the drone on the groundsthat the likely casualties from strikes on Iran would be”disproportionate” relative to the Iranian attack on an unmannedaircraft.
Among the “provocative actions” by Iran, hepointed to the downing of the drone and attacks on oil tankers in the Strait ofHormuz, though he denied a direct link between the drone incident and the newsanctions.
“This was something that was going to happenanyway,” Trump said.
Mnuchin, meanwhile, said that “some of these were inthe works, some of these were results of recent activities. I’m not going toidentify which is which.”
Iran denies having anything to with the attacks on tankersand says that the US drone violated Iranian airspace. The Pentagon insists theunmanned aircraft was flying over international waters.
Mnuchin also signalled his intention to impose individualsanctions on Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who representedTehran in the negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction (JCPOA), which limited Iranian nuclear activity in exchange for relieffrom sanctions.
Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018 and Khameneisays he is not interested in negotiations until and unless Washington returnsto the 2015 pact and ends sanctions that are harming the Iranian economy.
Iran and the rest of the signatories – Russia, China,France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union – officially remaincommitted to the JCPOA.