US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the new economic sanctions announced Wednesday against Iran have entered into force.
"It was done," Trump said. We tightened (penalties). It was very strict, but it has now been tightened to a great extent, "threatening" additional sanctions ", following the missile strikes that Tehran carried out on Tuesday night on bases in Iraq used by American soldiers.
"I just ratified it with the (Treasury) department," Trump added.
On Wednesday, Trump announced these new "immediate" sanctions in a speech in response to Iranian missile strikes that have not killed any Americans.
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Iran had fired "more than 12 missiles" at two military bases in Iraq used by American forces in Ein al-Assad and Harir, near Arbil.
The Iranian missile attack comes after Tehran has vowed to "respond" to the killing of the commander of the Quds Force in the Revolutionary Guards, General Qassem Soleimani, in a US air strike in Iraq.
"Iran ... has hit us with missiles," Trump said about Iran's missile strikes. It wasn't worth doing. Fortunately for us, no one was injured and no one was killed.
"They suffer severely from the sanctions," he stressed. They can boost their country's economy quickly if they want to. We'll see if they negotiate or not. ”
On the other hand, the US President expressed "doubts" about the causes of the crash of the Ukrainian passenger plane after taking off from Tehran at dawn on Wednesday, while US officials expressed their conviction that the plane was accidentally shot down, according to what the media reported.
"I have my doubts," Trump said, responding to questions from reporters at the White House about the crash, which killed 176 people near Tehran.
"I have a feeling that something terrible happened."
Trump said the plane "was flying in a very difficult atmosphere and someone could have made a mistake," adding, "Some say it was a mechanical (malfunction)." I personally don't think this is possible at all. ”
And the catastrophe occurred shortly after Tehran fired missiles at bases used by the US military in Iraq.