Trump Ratchets Up the Pressure on Iran by Order To 'Substantially Increase Sanctions'
This isn’t the Obama administration anymore.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate the terrorist regime in Tehran have already driven the Iranian economy into the ground — a rude turnaround from their coddling under the previous president — but Iran’s leaders might be finding out soon how low they can go.
After the weekend drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed on Iran on Wednesday, according to Fox News, Trump is going to push even harder.
“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!” Trump wrote in a Twitter post Wednesday morning.
I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2019
Details about the new sanctions weren’t released Wednesday, but it can’t be a good sign for Iran’s leadership.
Since Trump’s election, the U.S. has abandoned the accommodationist approach toward the murderous mullahs of the Islamic Republic that had driven the Obama administration.
That misguided policy resulted in the United States not only signing a deal that would have allowed Iran to build a nuclear weapon within a decade, but in the U.S. flying literal planeloads of cash to Iran, as The Wall Street Journal reported in 2016.
That came out out to a cool $1.3 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal — enough to fund any number of proxy-war activities by the “Death to America” crowd, with enough left over to pay for some terrorists who attack Israel, too.
Only a Democrat could love a deal like that.
What Trump’s announcement Wednesday didn’t do was raise the threat of a military conflict.
No matter how Democrats try to paint him as a warmonger, Trump has pushed negotiations on every front since he’s been in office.
Sometimes that pushing has been saber-rattling — like the exchange of threats that brought North Korea to the bargaining table early in his administration.
Sometimes it’s been financial — like the current trade war with China and the tariffs each country has imposed on the other’s goods.
With Iran, Trump took a firm line early on and hasn’t backed away a bit.
Ever since he officially dumped the Obama nuclear deal, Trump has made it clear that while he isn’t leaping at any Iranian provocation, he’s willing to hit back in his own way — and in ways that will really hurt Iran.
After the weekend attack against Saudi Arabia — a U.S. ally and Iran’s chief regional rival — the screws are going to get tighter.
Because this isn’t the Obama administration anymore.
Editor’s note: This post was updated to add that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday blamed Iran for the attack.
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