On Friday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that they were placing new sanctions on Iran for test firing a ballistic missile last week. The department disclosed that the new sanctions will target 13 individuals and 12 entities.
On Friday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted about how Iran is “playing with fire” now that he is in the White House.
“Iran is playing with fire – they don’t appreciate how “kind” President Obama was to them. Not me!” he said.
Following the department’s announcement, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan released a statement applauding the President’s actions.
“Iran’s latest ballistic missile test was a flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. This swift and decisive response proves that our new administration is serious about holding the Iranian regime accountable for its illicit behavior,” Ryan said.
“I applaud President Trump for imposing new sanctions to crack down on Tehran’s dangerous ballistic missile program and support for terrorism across the globe,” he continued.
On Wednesday, national security advisor Michael Flynn announced during a White House Press briefing that the United States was going to be putting the Islamic Republic “on notice.”
“President Trump has severely criticized the various agreements reached between Iran and the Obama Administration, as well as the United Nations, as being weak and ineffective. Instead of being thankful to the United States in these agreements, Iran is now feeling emboldened. As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,” he said.
On Sunday, Iran conducted a ballistic missile test, which is direct violation of the a U.N. resolution which specifically calls for Iran not to conduct such tests. Iran reportedly launched a Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile from a Semnan launch site which blew up 600 miles into the flight.
Iran has tested nuclear-capable ballistic missiles at least nine times since July 2015, which is when the nuclear deal signed. U.N. resolution 2231 was put in place days later which forbids the Islamic Republic from conducting such tests.
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