Trump chooses sanctions over strikes, for now, against Iranian regime
Washington: The United States will impose sanctions on 18 Iranian officials and entities accused of laundering proceeds from oil sales, as President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on the Islamic regime in Tehran but postponed military intervention to support widespread protests.
Among those affected by the new sanctions is Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Larijani says the United States was among the first leaders to call for violence to suppress the uprising in Iran, the largest in years.
The development comes after Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said a Canadian citizen “died at the hands of Iranian authorities” during the protests, but did not provide further details.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the new sanctions imposed on Trump’s orders will continue the administration’s pressure campaign aimed at accelerating Iran’s economic collapse since March.
“Our sanctions efforts have been effective in reducing oil exports and revenues. Currency and living conditions [in Iran] “We are in freefall,” he said on Thursday morning US time.
“The central bank is bankrupt and printing money. Hyperinflation is next… The regime has chosen to spend what is left of the country’s oil revenues on nuclear weapons development, missiles, and terrorist proxies around the world.”
Bessent reiterated Trump’s support for protesters who are now risking their lives on the streets in Tehran and other cities in Iran. The US president said “help is on the way” earlier this week, and many interpreted that as a promise of military intervention.
The president specifically objected to the brutality of the regime’s violence against protesters. Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based organization, says the death toll now exceeds 2,600.
There was widespread expectation of a US attack in the early hours of Thursday when Iran closed its airspace to all but a few select international flights destined for Tehran and the US withdrew some personnel from military bases in the region.
But Trump also softened his stance, saying the United States had received information from reliable sources that the killings had stopped and the executions of political prisoners would not take place.
Iranian state media also quoted authorities as saying Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old protester arrested last week, was not sentenced to death and will not be executed.
Trump did not rule out military intervention but said he would see if his promises to stop killing protesters would come true.
Financial Times It has been reported that countries in the region such as Qatar, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to deter Trump from striking Iran.
“For now, things have calmed down,” an Arab official said Financial Times. “The United States is giving time to negotiate with Iran and see where they go from here,” he said.
In his video message, Bessent extended an olive branch to Iranian leaders, saying they “still have time” if they choose to “join us.”
“The US Treasury knows like rats on a sinking ship that you are frantically transferring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will follow them and you,” he said. “But you still have time if you choose to join us. Stop the violence and stand with the Iranian people.”
Some reports from Iran showed that protests had diminished, although information was difficult to verify due to internet and mobile phone blackouts and a ban on foreign journalists.
Wall StreetJournal He quoted two protesters in Tehran as saying the streets were calmer and there were fewer protests and police barricades.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: excitement or email.
