US vows ‘relentless’ sanctions as it seeks to pressure Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made his case for President Donald Trump administration’s tough new sanctions on Iran, saying that, “it is completely clear the Islamic Republic of Iran is the destabilizing force in the Middle East today.”

Pompeo also said the Trump administration is watching Iran with “laser focus.”

“If they try to evade our sanctions, we will take action to disrupt their activity,” Pompeo said.

In what the US said was the largest-single sanctions designation, the Treasury imposed penalties on more than 700 Iranian and Iranian-linked individuals, entities, aircraft and vessels. The move brought to more than 900 the number of Iran-related targets sanctioned by the Trump administration in less than two years.

Among those are 50 Iranian banks and subsidiaries, more than 200 people and ships, Iran’s state-run airline Iran Air and more than 65 of its planes.