US President Donald Trump Imposes Sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order imposing financial sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the wake of the Iranian downing of a US drone. The sanctions “will deny the supreme leader and the supreme leader’s office and those closely affiliated with him and the office, access to key financial resources and support,” the President told reporters in the Oval Office before putting his signature to the document, the Efe news reported.

“Today’s actions follow a series of aggressive behaviours by the Iranian regime in recent weeks, including shooting down of US drones,” Trump said, flanked by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Vice President Mike Pence.

“The supreme leader of Iran is one who ultimately is responsible of the hostile conduct of the regime. He’s respected within his country. His office oversees the regime’s most brutal instruments, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the President said of Khamanei. Until now, the US sanctions against Iran have targeted broad economic sectors and government entities, such as the Revolutionary Guard, as opposed to specific individuals. At the same time, Trump reiterated his desire for negotiations with Iran to reduce tensions, a proposal that Khamanei has rebuffed.

Mnuchin also signalled his intention to impose individual sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who represented Tehran in the negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which limited Iranian nuclear activity in exchange for relief from sanctions. Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018 and Khamenei says he is not interested in negotiations until and unless Washington returns to the 2015 pact and ends sanctions that are harming the Iranian economy. Iran and the rest of the signatories - Russia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union - officially remain committed to the JCPOA. (IANS)

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