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US announces sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guards
Escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear programs culminate in an 'unprecedented package' of economic constraints.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced Thursday morning the harshest set of sanctions against Iran since that country's 1979 revolution, according to the Associated Press.
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In the broadest U.S. unilateral penalties on Iran since the takeover ofthe U.S. Embassy in 1979, the administration slapped sanctions onIran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a main unit of its defense ministry,three of its largest banks and eight people that it said are engaged inmissile trade and back extremist groups throughout the Middle East.
The sanctions target 25 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guard that play a major role in Iran’s domestic economy and international trade. They are the first of their type taken by the United States specifically against the armed forces of another government
Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, echoed the US's earlier calls for sanctions on the Iranian government by the United Nations (UN), saying it, too, would push for further sanctions against Iran, NewsDay reports. The Bush administration conceded last month to Chinese and Russian demands that the UN Security Council wait until November before leveling more sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
"We are absolutely clear that we are ready, and will push for, further sanctions against Iran," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. "We will work through the United Nations to achieve this. We are prepared also to have tougher European sanctions. We want to make it clear that we do not support the nuclear ambitions of that country."
The Iranian government has yet to respond to the announcement, but the Associated Press reports that the Guards' leader made a reference to new sanctions in a speech today.
In Tehran, the Guards’ chief, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, shrugged off increased U.S. pressure on the force.
“Today, enemy has concentrated sharp point of its attacks on the Guards,” Jafari told a military ceremony in Mashhad, east of Tehran, according to the state news agency IRNA. “They have applied all their efforts to reduce the efficiency of this revolutionary body. Now as always, the corps is ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before.”
The plans also drew a reaction from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Iran's president in Tehran last week, according to the Associated Press.
Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized it, saying new international sanctions are not advisable.
