Treasury secretary says US set to tighten sanctions on Iran soon

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday of further sanctions targeting Iran following its unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, saying she expects Washington will take added action “in the coming days.” “I fully expect that we will take additional sanctions action against Iran in the coming days,” she said as this week’s spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank began in Washington. The Treasury, Yellen said, will not hesitate to work with US allies to “use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity.”

Yellen told a press briefing that US authorities have been using economic tools to counter Iran’s activity, taking aim at its drone and missile programs, as well as its financing of groups like Hamas. “From this weekend’s attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran’s actions threaten the region’s stability and could cause economic spillovers,” she warned. She stopped short of sharing details on possible sanctions while noting that Washington has been working to diminish Iran’s ability to export oil and there might be “more that we could do.”

Yellen also outlined US priorities during the spring meetings, including deepening ties with allies and partners, and engaging with China on issues like risks from excess industrial capacity. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged all sides in the Middle East to refrain from action that would trigger a new confrontation which he warned would be fraught with catastrophic consequences for the region, the Kremlin said.

Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi by phone about “retaliatory measures taken by Iran.” Putin said that the root cause of the instability in the Middle East was the unresolved conflict between Palestinians and Israel. “Vladimir Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region,” the Kremlin said. “Ebrahim Raisi noted that Iran’s actions were forced and limited in nature,” the Kremlin said. “At the same time, he stressed Tehran’s disinterest in further escalation of tensions.”

Russia has repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders.

“Both sides stated that the root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the Kremlin said of the call with Raisi.

“In this regard, the principled approaches of Russia and Iran in favor of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, easing the difficult humanitarian situation, and creating conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis were confirmed.”

Yellen said Iran’s actions ‘threaten the region’s stability and could cause economic spillovers.’