US announces new sanctions on Iran after missile strikes on bases in Iraq

S Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed the US decision to impose further sanctions on Iran on Friday during a White House press conference. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 13 January 2020
Follow

US announces new sanctions on Iran after missile strikes on bases in Iraq

  • The sanctions will hit eight senior Iranian individuals involved in Tuesday's strikes on US positions
  • Mnuchin said the move would cut off access to "billions of dollars" for the regime

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s senior policy adviser and special representative for Iran Brian Hook has detailed the expanded sanctions on Iran.

The new sanctions were announced by the White House to target eight senior Iranian leaders as well as the country’s metals industry, which Hook said is funding Iran’s foreign policies.

The sanctions were announced earlier by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

Hook said that the expanded sanctions include Iran’s construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining industries. He added that they will also target 22 Iranian organizations and three shipping vessels operating in the iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors.

Hook named one of the eight newly sanctioned Iranian leaders as Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. 

“What’s important about these officials is that these eight have carried Iran’s terror plots and campaigns of mayhem across the region. They are complicit in the recent murders of around 1,500 Iranians protesting their freedom,” said Hook.

He added: “As you know, the secretary of state created a tip line for the Iranian people to submit photos and videos and evidence of regime abuse. We have sanctioned the minister of communications and technology for turning off the internet shortly after the protests ended. We also sanctioned some judges. And today we are sanctioning eight senior Iranian leaders who were involved in brutalizing the Iranian people.”

During a brief teleconference with journalists, Hook addressed the justifications for the expanded sanctions, but not the impact they will have on Iran’s civilian population.

The expanded sanctions follow the decision by Trump to break the nuclear arms deal signed with Iran by his predecessor Barack Obama, and the US’ assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani.

Hook said Suleimani was crucial to Iran’s campaign of targeting and killing hundreds of Americans over his 20 years as the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s most important adviser.

“Suleimani was traveling in the region for the purpose of organizing attacks,” Hook said.

He added: “We have said Suleimani was targeting diplomatic facilities and he was also targeting American service members. He was looking at diplomats and service members, not the first time, because he had orchestrated the repeated attacks on Iraqi military bases that were hosting American coalition forces. 

Hook said that “this wasn’t the first time he has done this. He has been organizing proxies in Iraq for some time. When we had him in the region planning imminent attacks against American people and against American interests, the president then took decisive action. 

“If we had not taken that action and hundreds of people had died, you would be asking me now, why didn’t we do more to prevent Suleimani from killing so many people?”

Hook described Suleimani as “very effective and very lethal,” adding that he “is responsible for the murder of over 600 Americans.” He said Suleimani served as “the glue that held together the proxy forces in the grey zone” in Iraq and Syria.

“The Iran regime will be held accountable for the attacks of its proxies,” Hook said, citing the killing of an American on Dec. 27, 2019, conducted by the Iraqi paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah, which he described as an Iranian proxy in Iraq and Syria. 

“Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and they are in the most volatile region of the world … Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon,” Hook vowed. 

“The president is issuing an executive order that authorizes the US to impose sanctions on any person operating in or trading with construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining sectors,” Hook said. 

“This order is going to have a major impact on the Iranian economy and leadership."

Hook said that despite the expanded sanctions, the Trump administration is “keeping the door open” to diplomacy.

“This regime is facing its worst financial crisis and its worst political arrest in its 40-year history. The regime has very bad options. They are in a state of panicked aggression,” Hook said. 

He said all of these sanctions “will remain in place until the regime changes its behavior,” adding that he was hoping Iran “will not respond to sanctions with military force.”
 


Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

  • Medical charity warns of new threat from escalation in fighting in Sudan civil war

KHARTOUM: Civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan face mass atrocities and ethnic violence in the civil war between the regular army and its paramilitary rivals, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned on Thursday.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have sought to consolidate their power in Darfur since losing control of the capital Khartoum in March. Their predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.

The paramilitaries have intensified attacks on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state which they have besieged since May 2024 in an effort to push the army out of its final stronghold in the region.
“People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting ... but also actively targeted by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharite, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ head of emergencies. There were “threats of a full-blown assault,” on El-Fasher, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people largely cut off from food and water supplies and deprived of access to medical care, he said.


Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia moved on Thursday to reassure Egypt about its water supply after completing work on a controversial giant $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile.

“To our neighbors downstream, our message is clear: the dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

“The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia. We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water. Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is 1.8 km wide and 145 meters high, and is Africa's largest hydroelectric project. It can hold 74 billion cubic meters of water and generate more than 5,000 megawatts of power — more than double Ethiopia’s current output. It will begin full operations in September.

Egypt already suffers from severe water scarcity and sees the dam as an existential threat because the country relies on the Nile for 97 percent of its water. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met last week and “stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile basin.” They were committed to safeguarding water security in the region, Sisi’s spokesman said.


Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

Updated 03 July 2025
Follow

Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

  • The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally,” the Irbil airport authority said

IRBIL, Iraq: An explosive drone was shot down near Irbil airport in northern Iraq on Thursday, the Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

There were no casualties reported, according to two security sources.

The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally and the airport was not affected by any damage,” the Irbil airport authority said in a statement.

The incident only caused a temporary delay in the landing of one aircraft, the statement added.


Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims

Updated 03 July 2025
Follow

Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims

  • They say there is a strategic opportunity to integrate the UNESCO World Heritage Site into routes for Christian travelers
  • Head of tourism authority says highlighting Petra’s significance to Christian heritage itineraries could enhance Jordan’s position on global religious tourism map

LONDON: Officials from Jordan and the Vatican met on Thursday to discuss ways in which they can cooperate to advance religious tourism, including the promotion of the ancient city of Petra as a destination for Christian pilgrims.

Fares Braizat, who chairs the board of commissioners of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority, said that highlighting the significance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Christian heritage itineraries could enhance Jordan’s position on the global religious tourism map.

The country has a number of important Christian sites, the most significant of which is the location on the eastern bank of the Jordan River where Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist. Several popes have visited it, including Francis and John Paul II.

Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, the Vatican’s ambassador to Jordan, confirmed the interest in collaborating with Jordanian authorities, and praised the nation’s stability and its rich historical and religious heritage.

Both officials acknowledged the strategic opportunity that exists to integrate Petra into pilgrimage routes for Christian travelers, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The Petra tourism authority recently lit up the Colosseum in Rome with the signature colors of the historic Jordanian site to celebrate a twinning agreement as part of a marketing strategy to attract European visitors, and to raise Petra’s profile globally as a premier cultural and spiritual tourism destination.

The Vatican itself is also a major tourism destination, for Christian pilgrims in particular. In 2025 it is expected to welcome between 30 and 35 million visitors during its latest Jubilee Year, a significant ecclesiastical event that takes place every 25 years.


Last lifelines in Gaza are being cut, UN chief warns

Updated 03 July 2025
Follow

Last lifelines in Gaza are being cut, UN chief warns

  • Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again raises alarm over increasingly dire humanitarian crisis as restrictions on aid mount and civilians run out of safe places to shelter
  • He expresses grave concern over series of attacks in recent days that hit locations in which Palestinians were seeking shelter or trying to obtain food

NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said he was “appalled” by the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, condemned recent deadly strikes against displaced people, and warned that the enclave is on the brink of total collapse as fuel supplies run out.

He expressed grave concern over a series of attacks in recent days that hit locations in which Palestinians sought shelter or were trying to access food.

Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, read a statement that said: “Multiple attacks (have) killed and injured scores of Palestinians. The secretary-general strongly condemns the loss of civilian life.”

Civilians in Gaza are running out of safe areas in which to shelter as Israeli evacuation orders continue to expand, Dujarric added as he warned of a dire humanitarian crisis amid mounting restrictions on the delivery of aid and rising casualties among relief workers.

Israeli authorities issued a new displacement order on Thursday targeting parts of Gaza City, citing as a reason rocket fire from Palestinian groups. It affected an estimated 40,000 people, including those living in a displacement site, a medical facility, and a neighborhood previously spared evacuation orders since a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas ended in March.

“As of earlier today, about 900 families are estimated to have fled,” Dujarric said, adding that approximately 78 percent of the Gaza Strip has now been affected by the cumulative effects of more than 50 such orders. When combined with the effects on areas designated as Israeli militarized zones, the figure rises to 85 percent, leaving just 15 percent of the territory available for civilians to live.

“Those areas are, of course, overcrowded,” Dujarric said. “They also severely lack basic services or proper infrastructure.”

He described the remaining habitable zones as fragmented and unsafe, and compared the humanitarian conditions there to having more than 2 million crammed into Manhattan but

“instead of buildings, the area is strewn with the rubble of demolished and burnt-out structures without any infrastructure or basic support.”

The UN Population Fund has reported that an estimated 700,000 women and girls in Gaza are experiencing “a nightmare” situation as a result of lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, water and privacy. It said it has nearly 170 truckloads of supplies ready for delivery but they remain blocked from entering Gaza.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that nine more aid workers from five organizations have died in Gaza since last Thursday, bringing the death toll among aid personnel to 107 in 2025, and 479 since the war began in October 2023; 326 members of UN staff are among the dead.

OCHA also highlighted the significant obstacles humanitarian operations faced in June. Out of nearly 400 attempts to coordinate with Israeli authorities, 44 percent were denied, and 10 percent were initially approved but later obstructed. Only a third of the missions were fully facilitated, while 12 percent were canceled due to logistical or security issues.

Four out of 16 humanitarian coordination efforts were denied on Thursday alone, Dujarric said, hindering efforts to relocate medical supplies and clear debris.

“The space left for civilians to stay is shrinking by the day,” he added.

In his statement, Guterres underscored the fact that international humanitarian law is “unambiguous” in its requirement for civilians to be protected and their basic needs met.

He warned that the continuing blockade on fuel deliveries, now entering an 18th week, threatens to bring remaining humanitarian operations to a halt.

“Without an urgent influx of fuel, incubators will shut down, ambulances will be unable to reach the injured and sick, and water cannot be purified,” he said, adding that the UN and its partners might soon be unable to deliver even the limited amount of aid that remains in Gaza.

Guterres repeated his call for “full, safe and sustained humanitarian access,” and said the UN has a ready, proven plan to deliver aid “safely and at scale” to civilians across the territory.

He also renewed his appeal for an “immediate, permanent ceasefire” and the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” and stressed that all parties involved in the conflict must uphold their obligations under international law.