“Our actions will make it harder and more costly for Iran to continue its destabilizing actions on all fronts,” Yellen said in a statement. “We will continue to take further actions and deploy our sanctions powers to confront Iran in the coming days and weeks.”
As President Biden seeks to stem the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, new sanctions the administration signaled earlier this week appear aimed at quelling regional tensions rather than stirring them up. Some critics have called on the administration to further reduce the revenue generated by the Iranian government by imposing sanctions on China's huge purchases of Iranian oil. The Treasury Department has taken steps to sanction Chinese companies for such purchases, but a more ambitious crackdown risks raising global oil prices and, in turn, U.S. gasoline prices in an election year. It will affect you.
The administration appears to have largely avoided such escalation, at least for now. Rather, the administration's sanctions on Thursday appear to be targeted within Iran.
The sanctions exempted banks and other financial institutions that use the US dollar. But it is unclear how many Western companies are supporting Iranian drone production, especially given that Iran's economy already has minimal connections to the Western economy of the United States and its allies.
Rachel Ziemba, a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a foreign policy think tank, said Western countries have already introduced sanctions related to Iranian drones because of Russian military use of drones in Ukraine. He said there was. “I think it’s pretty much the same,” she said. “This is not a step-by-step move seeking to rein in energy revenues, and we are skeptical that the stocks involved are dependent on USD nexus points, which could limit their effectiveness. ”
Even before the October 7 Israeli attack reignited tensions in the region, Iran's economy was one of the most heavily sanctioned in the world. The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran since 1979, and the Trump administration has significantly escalated economic pressure since 2018, when Iran withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration.
The latest sanctions target 16 people and two companies that enable Iran's drone production. Five companies that provide materials to Iranian steel producer Khuzestan Steel were also subject to sanctions. The Treasury Department has also sanctioned three subsidiaries of Iranian automakers for allegedly supporting the Iranian regime.
Iran responded to Israel's deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria over the weekend, sending more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel. The Iranian attack did not cause major damage or injuries, as Israeli, US and other forces blocked most of the shelling.
