(Washington) Washington “will not hesitate”, with its allies, to strengthen sanctions against Iran after its attack on Israel, American Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will say on Tuesday, in a speech of which extracts were published in advance .
“The Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions power to continue to disrupt the malicious and destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime,” Joe Biden’s Minister of Economy and Finance will warn.
Speaking as a preamble to a press conference organized as the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank begin, she will highlight the fact that “Iran’s actions threaten the stability of the region and could have economical consequences “.
Tehran launched a direct attack on Israeli territory during the night from Saturday to Sunday, in response to a deadly strike attributed to Israel against its consulate in Damascus.
Since Joe Biden’s arrival at the White House in January 2021, “we have targeted more than 500 individuals and entities linked to terrorism and the financing of terrorism by the Iranian regime” and the various movements linked to it in the region, she will say.
And this by targeting in particular “Iran’s drone and missile programs and its financing of Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah and the Iraqi militias”, she will detail.
Mme Yellen will insist that the sanctions taken against Hamas must not prevent aid from reaching the inhabitants of Gaza, assuring that the Treasury has worked to “guarantee that the sanctions do not hinder aid vital.”
“In Gaza, the entire population – more than two million people – faces acute food insecurity and most of the population has been displaced. It is up to all of us present at these meetings to do everything in our power to put an end to this suffering,” the minister said.
Furthermore, as a Treasury Department official announced on Monday, Washington intends to take advantage of the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank to advance the project consisting of using Russia’s frozen assets to arm Ukraine and rebuild it.
“We continue to work with our international partners to unlock the economic value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets and ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has caused,” underlined Janet Yellen.
The spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank began Tuesday in Washington and will last a week.