Washington DC, Sep 19: President Donald Trump has on Wednesday he ordered new sanctions on Iran in its latest move of exerting pressure, following United States allegation that Tehran was behind the latest drone attack on Saudi Aramco oil plants, which the Islamic Republic denies.
“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase sanctions on the country of Iran!” he tweeted.
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
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: “They want to impose maximum … pressure on Iran through slander.”
“We don’t want conflict in the region … Who started the conflict?” he added, blaming the US and its Gulf allies for the ongoing war in Yemen.
In a tweet, Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said:
Escalating US economic WAR on Iranians, @realDonaldTrump ordered SoT "to substantially increase sanctions against the COUNTRY of Iran!"
It’s admission that US is DELIBERATELY targeting ordinary citizens: #EconomicTerrorism, illegal & inhuman.
ُStop war & terror. #Security4All.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 18, 2019
In a media conference on Wednesday, Saudi Arabian official pictured debris of the alleged weapon used during the attack, saying there were “undeniable” shreds of evidence of Iranian aggression.
Saudi defence ministry spokesperson said there were no chances that the attacks were launched from Yemen.
“The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” Saudi Colonel Turki al-Malki said. “We are working to know the exact launch point.”
United Nations (UN) officials monitoring the sanctions on Yemen and Iran have departed for Saudi Arabia to probe the recent oil attacks.
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