United State is sending reinforcements to Saudi Arabia and UAE to protect what it believes to be its own assets, and put additional pressure on Iran, increasing the risk of a sudden and devastating regional war, analysts told RT.
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President Donald Trump said the sanctions were the toughest-ever against another country, but indicated he did not plan a military strike, calling restraint a sign of strength.
The US Treasury Department renewed action against Iran's central bank after officials said Tehran carried out weekend attacks on rival Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, which triggered a spike in global crude prices.
According to the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, those attacks, as well as an Iranian attack on an American unmanned spy drone in June, represented a "dramatic escalation of Iranian aggression." He said the United States would send military reinforcements to the Gulf region at the request of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"In response to the kingdom's request, the president has approved the deployment of US forces, which will be defensive in nature, and primarily focused on air and missile defense," Esper said.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford said the deployment will be "moderate," with the number of troops not expected to reach the thousands.
Earlier in the day Trump attacked both critics who thought the mogul-turned-president would trigger war and hawks seeking a military response. "The easiest thing I could do (is) knock out 15 different major things in Iran," Trump said. "But I think the strong-person approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint," he said.
Trump in June authorised a military strike after Iran shot down a US spy drone, only to call it off at the last moment.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Friday revealed how extensive the damage from the strikes on state giant Aramco's facilities in Khurais and the world's largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq was decapitating. The attacks, which knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's oil production, have been claimed by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, but Washington has pointed its finger at Tehran, condemning the strikes as an "act of war."
According to a report by france24 quoting Aramco officer, Abqaiq was struck 18 times while nearby Khurais was hit four times in a raid that triggered multiple explosions and towering flames that took hours to extinguish.
Aramco flew dozens of international journalists to the two sites to show it was speeding up repairs, giving rare access to the nerve center of the world's largest oil producer as it seeks to shore up investor confidence ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).
Meanwhile, Yemen's Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly targeted key Saudi infrastructure in recent months in cross-border attacks, unexpectedly announced late Friday that they planned to halt all strikes on the country.
The move, they said, was part of a peace initiative to end their country's devastating conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people -- most of them civilians -- and driven millions more to the brink of famine.
Iran denies US and Saudi accusations that it arms the Huthis.
The Trump administration already maintains sweeping sanctions on Iran including on its central bank, with anyone who deals with it subject to prosecution, due to Tehran's alleged nuclear program. But the new sanctions Friday were imposed for the additional reason of "terrorism," Treasury said, adding that Iran's central bank had provided "billions of dollars" to two groups blacklisted by the United States.
"Treasury's action targets a crucial funding mechanism that the Iranian regime uses to support its terrorist network, including the Qods Force, Hezbollah and other militants that spread terror and destabilize the region," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The Qods Force conducts international operations for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, while Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group and political party in Lebanon, is among Iran's closest regional partners.
Iran responded that the move showed that the United States was running out of options.
The United States also imposed sanctions on Iran's sovereign wealth fund, whose board of trustees includes President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Etemad Tejarate Pars, a company that the Treasury Department said had sent money internationally on behalf of Iran's defense ministry.
Trump recently said that he hopes for talks with Rouhani, who responded that Trump must first ease sanctions.
Last year Trump pulled out of a nuclear accord with Iran negotiated under former president Barack Obama, sending tensions soaring as he tried to stop all countries from buying Iran's oil.
The Persian Gulf is a powder keg, and any aggressive action by the Saudis or any other regional player “could trigger some sort of conflict that draws the US in” – but Americans are unlikely to fall in line with yet another war, especially to defend such a repugnant ally, Colin Cavell, associate professor of political science at Bluefield State College, told RT.
Washington is putting itself in a “very tenuous situation” and even though it will likely try to sell potential war with the usual line that they’re “fighting for freedom and democracy,” Cavell warned “there’s a pretty widespread feeling among US troops that that’s not the case.”
The embarrassing attack that crippled Saudi oil production has once again proved that Riyadh is extremely dependent on the US militarily, be it arms supplies, training or operational support, Richard Becker of the US anti-war and social justice ANSWER coalition said .
“The Saudi military has bought hundreds of billions of dollars in weaponry from US manufacturers,” Becker explained. “It is clear that the Saudi military is not a strong military and it very much needs the US there.” That’s an essential part of the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia.
With Iran, which is realistically no match to the US militarily, already surrounded by dozens of bases and other assets, including submarines and aircraft carriers, another handful of troops makes little difference, but nevertheless escalates the crisis, Becker believes.
That’s the real provocation, they are not there to defend the US from Iran… They are a form of pressure and control over Iran.
What kind of enticement is there to enter negotiations if the other party has [unilaterally] broken what was in fact a treaty among six countries and Iran
“The negotiating table is with the JCPOA plus five…for Iran to agree to some separate negotiation based upon intimidation and bullying by the US is illogical,” Cavell added.
Trump can huff and he can puff but he’s not going to blow the Iranian house down.
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