On Friday, United States had announced fresh sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and a development fund in retaliation to the airstrikes on Oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. The airstrikes had managed to hit the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and have an impact on the oil production capacity by half and have impacted five per cent of the global oil supply.
The US and Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for the airstrikes, a charge which Iran categorically denies. Yemen-based Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
According to an article in Reuters, Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator had earlier asked the Pentagon to provide an array of options to the US President to regain the “lost deterrence” against Iran.
Iran has already been facing a major challenge to maintain its economy. Its financial services have been cutaway from the global market. The sanctions restored on the country after the United States had pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Since then Iran is unable to replenish its drying economic resources.
Iran has been struggling to protect its economy after the US pulling out of the Iran Nuclear deal, demanding new negotiations to take place. The tactic used by the US is to exert maximum pressure on Iran so that it can come to the negotiation table.
The sanctions also were imposed on the National Development Fund of Iran. It is a development fund founded in 2011, it also was supposed to supplement the Oil Stabilization Fund.
With this fresh round of sanctions on Iran, it is only a matter of months till we see the result of the pressure of these sanctions and the result of the negotiations which follow. Sanctions on Iran were restored in 2015. The sanctions had been in place since 2009, it was relaxed after negotiations had led to the Iran Nuclear Deal.
(Inputs from agencies)