President Barack Obama expanded Iran sanctions to include parties dealing with Iran’s Central Bank.
The executive order made public Feb. 6 cuts Iran’s economy off from the United States’ entirely by expanding existing sanctions to include those who deal with Iran’s Central Bank, forcing interlocutors to choose between the two countries.
The intended effect is to isolate Iran from much of the world’s developed economy.
Meanwhile, in a Feb. 5 interview on NBC, the president said Israel and the United States will work in “lockstep” to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He discounted reports that Israel was getting ready to strike Iran.
“I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do,” Obama said.
Obama downplayed reports of an Iranian attack on U.S. soil, but did not discount U.S. military action.
“Our preferred solution here is diplomatic; we’re going to keep on pushing on that front,” he said. He repeated, however, “we’re not going to take any option off the table.” — jta