US Not Ruling Out New Sanction on Iran: Yellen

The Biden administration has not ruled out new sanctions against Iran in relation to the renewed conflict in the Middle East, but no decisions have been made yet, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

• “I wouldn’t take anything off the table in terms of future possible actions, but I certainly don’t want to get ahead of where we are now,” Yellen said during a press conference in Marrakech, Morocco.
• Former US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Monday the US needs harsher sanctions to cut off Iran’s ability to export oil. “Allowing Iran to produce more oil makes us weaker”, he added.
• Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US Department of State said on Tuesday: “We have taken a number of actions since the beginning of this administration to hold Iran accountable for its malign activities in the region…We will continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable. But I wouldn’t want to preview from here what those might look like.”
• "Now, with respect to what we might do in the future, we have the ability to freeze those funds if we need to. We’ve not made any decisions," Miller added.
• Uncertainty in the oil market has put traders on edge for signs that Iran, a supporter of Hamas, was directly involved in the attack. Iran has denied involvement and the White House has no confirmation the nation directed the assault.
• Reprisals on Iran could risk crude shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which the state has previously warned it could close. Only recently the US eased sanctions on Iran to allow more oil shipments. Some analysts have reduced expectations that Saudi Arabia will ease the current voluntary production cuts.