Politics
US imposes missile, drone sanctions in latest bid to pressure Iran
- Targets span Iran, UAE, Turkey, China, HK, India, Germany, Ukraine.
- Treasury says entities operate multiple procurement networks.
- US, Europe, Israel accuse Iran of building nuclear weapons.
The US on Wednesday sanctioned individuals and entities in several countries related to their support of Iran’s ballistic missile and drone production, in the latest attempt to pressure Tehran.
A total of 32 individuals and entities based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, Hong Kong, India, Germany and Ukraine that operate multiple procurement networks are being targeted in Wednesday’s designations, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
“These networks pose a threat to US and allied personnel in the Middle East and to commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” the department said in a statement.
The US, its European allies, and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
On Sunday, a top Treasury Department official said that the US wanted to take advantage of a “moment” in Lebanon in which it could cut Iranian funding to Hezbollah and press the group to disarm.
In an interview, John Hurley, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, alleged Iran has managed to funnel about $1 billion to Hezbollah this year despite a raft of Western sanctions that have battered its economy.
The US has adopted a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran meant to curb its uranium enrichment and regional influence, including in Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah is also weakened after Israel shattered its military power in a 2023-24 war.
Earlier this month, Washington sanctioned two individuals accused of using money exchanges to help fund Hezbollah, which is deemed a terrorist group by several Western governments and Gulf states.
Tehran has leaned on closer ties with China, Russia and regional states, including the UAE, since September, when talks to curb its disputed nuclear activity and missile programme broke down, prompting the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions.
Western powers accuse Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons capability. Tehran, whose economy now risks hyperinflation and a severe recession, says its nuclear programme is wholly for civilian power purposes.
President Masoud Pezeshkian says anyone who harbors the illusion of destroying Iran knows nothing about the country’s history and past.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in a post on his X account on Tuesday, saying Iran is the heir to a civilization with a history of at least 6,000 years.
“In the course of history, no power has been able to erase this renowned name.”
The Iranian president underscored the fact that the Iranian nation is fundamentally characterized by its enduring strength.
He said those who imagine they can destroy Iran are unaware of the country’s deep historical roots and legacy.
“Invaders have come and gone,” the president wrote, “but Iran has remained.”
The United Stated and Israel started a fresh round of aerial aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.
Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in the region.
Elon Musk is the wealthiest individual ever recorded, worth an estimated $839 billion, Forbes said on Tuesday, as a record 3,428 billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge to an all-time high of $20.1 trillion.
Musk topped the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for the second consecutive year after his fortune swelled by roughly $500 billion over the past twelve months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026.
He is the first person ever to surpass the $800 billion mark and is on course to become the world’s first trillionaire.
“It’s the year of the billionaire,” said Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes Senior Editor, Wealth. “The planet added more than one billionaire per day over the past twelve months as the AI-powered stock market boom boosted fortunes to previously unimaginable heights.”
The billionaire’s list showed that Larry Page, co-founder of Google, follows far behind Musk, standing at second place with an estimated net worth of $257 billion, followed by his co-founder Sergey Brin at number three with a net wealth of $237 billion.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was spotted at number four with $224 billion, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, holding $222 billion, rounds out the top 5.
Forbes noted that US President Donald Trump’s fortune increased by 27%, to an estimated $6.5 billion, thanks largely to crypto dealings and his New York fraud penalty being thrown out. He ranks number 645 worldwide.
TEHRAN: While Iran hits back against US and Israeli attacks with missiles and drones, it is also fighting a propaganda war with a Lego-style animation video complete with toy renditions of Donald Trump, bombs and warplanes.
Iran’s state-run Revayat-e Fath institute released its video on state television following the February 28 US-Israeli attacks that martyred supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the Middle East war.
The two-minute video has since been shared on Meta-owned platforms and on X, garnering tens of thousands of likes and shares.
With no dialogue, it appears designed to have international reach in a war that has rattled energy and stock markets, and divided world public opinion.
The video kicks off with Lego-type depictions of US President Trump flanked by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and the devil himself, looking at an album titled the “Epstein file” (sic).
Enraged, Trump hits a red button to kick off the war, and sends a missile through the clouds that hits what looks like a classroom, with toys representing girls wearing pink headscarves as they listen to their smiling teacher.
After the teacher writes on the board the words “My homeland is my life”, the screen goes dark. The next scene shows a pink backpack and a pair of pink shoes in the rubble of a strike.
An Iranian officer, also in Lego-inspired form, picks up the bag and weeps, before his sadness turns to rage.
Iran has accused the United States and Israel of conducting a deadly strike on a school in Minab in the south on the first day of the war.
AFP has neither been able to access the site in order to verify the incident nor obtain independent confirmation of the toll.
With a nationalist score playing, the video later shows Iranian Revolutionary Guards retaliating by attacking US interests and Israel across the region.
The video ends with a message saying it was made in remembrance of students killed in the strike, “who were martyred at the hands of Zionist and American terrorists”.
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