U.S. sanctions Iran's central bank, fund after Saudi oil attack

The United States on Friday imposed another round of
sanctions on Tehran, including on Iran's central bank and a development fund,
following last week's attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that Riyadh and
Washington have blamed on Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump outlined the action to
reporters at the White House on Friday after first announcing his plan for
further sanctions earlier this week on Twitter.
The sanctions target the Central Bank of Iran, the
National Development Fund of Iran and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co, an Iranian
company that U.S. officials said is used to conceal financial transfers for
Iranian military purchases, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Given previous U.S. efforts to cut off funds to
Iran, it was not immediately clear how much more impact the latest sanctions
would have.
Asked about the possibility of a military response
on Iran, Trump said the United States was always prepared and that a military
strike was always a possibility. Friday's action is the "highest level of
sanctions," Trump said.
Iran has denied any involvement in the Sept. 14
attack, which shook global oil markets and ratcheted up tensions between
Washington and Tehran. On Friday, Saudi officials took media to inspect the
affected facilities.
"Iran’s brazen attack against Saudi Arabia is
unacceptable," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement
announcing Friday's action.
Trump, who spoke to reporters at the White House
alongside visiting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has said he wants
a peaceful solution to the conflict following the weekend oil attacks. His
secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has called the attacks an "act of
war."
In recent weeks, Trump had weighed the possibility
of easing sanctions on Iran as he sought to meet with Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani, who is scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New
York next week.
"We are continuing the maximum pressure
campaign," Mnuchin told reporters at the White House. "This is very
big. We've now cut off all source of funds to Iran."
The Trump administration has imposed a wide range of
sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the world powers' 2015 Iranian nuclear
pact. The sanctions are part of a U.S. campaign to increase economic pressure
on Tehran over its nuclear program and was championed by former national
security adviser John Bolton, who was ousted this month.
Previous U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran's foreign
minister, its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, space agencies, and various
networks Washington has said helped boost Iran's nuclear program, among others.