US to slap new sanctions on Iran

President Donald Trump said today the US will impose more sanctions on Iran, which administration officials have blamed for the attacks on Saudi oil installations.

"I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

US officials are still debating what an appropriate US response to the 14 September attacks might be. Layering on additoinal sanctions has become Washington's default method of penalizing Tehran, even though nearly every aspect of the Iranian economy already is subject to sanctions that prohibit that country's commercial dealings with the rest of the world.

US sanctions imposed in May ban exports of oil and other petroleum products from Iran, under the threat of financial and criminal penalties against the buyers and parties facilitating the trade. But Iranian oil still finds its way to the market. The Treasury estimated Iranian crude exports at 500,000 b/d in August.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is scheduled to meet Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman in Jeddah today to discuss the attacks on key Saudi oil production facilities and "to coordinate efforts to counter Iranian aggression in the region." Riyadh today joined the US-led coalition to protect oil shipping in the Mideast Gulf that was set up following attacks on tankers in the region earlier this year.

Tensions in the Middle East rose sharply following the introduction of a total US sanctions ban on Iranian exports, with attacks targeting oil tankers, Saudi oil installations and civilian airports.

Yemeni Houthi rebels have taken responsibility for the attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure since May, including the 14 September incident. But the US blames Iran for being directly involved.

US officials in recent days made the case that the 14 September attacks did not originate in Yemen, offering satellite photos and assessments that point to Tehran.

But that assessment is not based on real-time monitoring of the attacks, which appear to have caught the US by surprise.

The US does not have "an unblinking eye" over the Middle East, US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, general Joseph Dunford, said yesterday. "We would not necessarily see everything that goes on in the region."

The US has sent forensics experts to assist the Saudi inquiry into the incidents. But it is already offering conclusions.

"In the region, wherever it originated from, the most likely threat is either Iran or Iranian-backed proxies," Dunford said. "Without getting out in front of the Saudi investigation, I think that is a reasonable conclusion."

The Saudi defense ministry is set to brief on the incident today.

Today's announcement comes less than a week after Trump and his senior officials discussed a French proposal for limited sanctions relief to Tehran and a possible meeting between Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rohani.

Trump yesterday said he would still be open to meeting Rohani but ruled out talks in the near term.

Iran hawks in Congress have urged the White House to consider military strikes against Iran in response to the Saudi incident. Trump said he would deem an attack on an Iranian oil facility a proportionate response.

Trump today named State Department hostage affairs envoy Robert O'Brien as White House national security adviser. O'Brien, Trump's fourth national security adviser, replaces John Bolton, whom Trump fired last week. Trump criticized Bolton for obstructing his personal diplomacy with Iran and North Korea.

O'Brien is a lawyer by training, and his international political experience prior to joining the Trump administration was limited to appointments as a US delegate to the UN General Assembly in 2005-06, under former president George Bush.

O'Brien's most prominent action as the hostage affairs envoy was, following instructions from Trump, to lobby a Swedish court in Stockholm in July to clear American rapper ASAP Rocky of assault charges.