US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday that the US intends to hit Iran with new sanctions in the coming days over its unprecedented attack on Israel, and these actions could seek to reduce Iran's capabilities. to export oil.
“With regard to sanctions, I fully expect that we will take additional action against Iran in the coming days,” Yellen said at a news conference on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
“We have not visualized our sanctions tools. But in the discussions I've had, all options for stopping Iran's terrorist financing remain on the table,” Yellen added.
She said the Treasury and State Department have taken previous steps to curb Iran's “destabilizing” behavior by diminishing its ability to export oil.
“Clearly, Iran continues to export some oil. There may be more we can do. I don’t want to predict our actual sanctions activities, but certainly that remains in focus as a possible area we could address.”
In prepared remarks, Yellen said Iran's attack on Israel last weekend and its funding of militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq threatened stability in the Middle East and could cause economic repercussions.
The United States is using financial sanctions to isolate Iran and disrupt its ability to finance proxy groups and support Russia's war in Ukraine, Yellen said.
Treasury has targeted more than 500 individuals and entities linked to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021, Yellen said.
This included attacking Iran's drone and missile programs and its funding of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraqi militia groups, she said.
“From this weekend’s attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran’s actions threaten the stability of the region and could cause economic repercussions,” Yellen said, without elaborating.
Iran on Saturday launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on its embassy complex in Damascus on April 11, killing elite military officers. .
Israel's military said it shot down almost all drones and missiles, and that the attack caused no deaths, but the situation raised fears of open war between the long-time enemies.
In Gaza, more than 33,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive launched against Hamas after the group attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli calculations.
Yellen said Washington continues to use economic tools to pressure Hamas, but said the Treasury is emphasizing that its sanctions should not impede humanitarian aid.
She called for urgent action to end Palestinian suffering in the narrow enclave, noting that Gaza's entire population of more than 2 million people was facing acute food insecurity and that the majority of the population had been displaced.
“It is up to all of us here at these meetings to do everything we can to end this suffering,” she said.
Yellen noted that Washington was also using sanctions to target extreme settler violence in the West Bank, while working to ensure a functioning banking system and support IMF programs in Jordan and Egypt.
Source: CNN Brasil
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