00:00Hello and welcome. I'm Geeta Mohan and you're watching India Today Global.
00:09That's some big breaking news coming in on the Iran-America front.
00:13We're looking at sanctions from the United States of America.
00:1918 Iranian individuals and entities have been sanctioned.
00:23Treasury Secretary Scott Besant in an announcement, in a video announcement,
00:30has very clearly spelled out what America is going to do.
00:33This is America's next step of action.
00:37Target Iranian networks.
00:3925% tariff on nations doing business with Iran.
00:42Demands of Iranian legitimacy.
00:45As also, the Americans have now warned Iran that they will track Iran down.
00:54A message to Khamenei that it's still time for them to join the United States of America.
01:00Listen in.
01:03Today's sanctions target 18 individuals and entities that the regime uses to evade sanctions on Iranian oil
01:11and divert proceeds from its energy sales away from the rightful owners, the Iranian people.
01:18Tehran's natural resources belong to its people and not its brutal dictators.
01:24Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of average Iranian.
01:32This includes the regime's attempts to exploit digital assets to evade sanctions and finance cyber-criminal operations.
01:42Additionally, President Trump has announced a 25% tariff on countries that continue to do business with Iran.
01:50Our message to the Iranian people is clear.
01:54Your demands are legitimate.
01:56You are protesting for a noble cause,
01:58and the United States support you and your efforts to peacefully oppose the regime's mismanagement and brutality.
02:06Our message to the Iranian leaders is also clear.
02:10U.S. Treasury knows that like rats on a sinking ship,
02:14you are frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world.
02:22Rest assured, we will track them and you.
02:26But there's still time if you choose to join us.
02:31My colleague Pranay Upadhyay joins me for more on this.
02:33Pranay, very interesting developments.
02:35We were looking at a scenario, a situation where there could have been military intervention,
02:40and then we saw a climb down.
02:42President Trump actually saying that the killings have stopped.
02:46Then we see reports of Saudi pressure,
02:48and now we're seeing sanctions rather than military intervention.
02:52Neeta, these are all parts of President Donald Trump's maximum pressure policy on Iran.
02:59You know that, you know, after assuming White House for the second term,
03:01President Donald Trump signed the executive order of maximum pressure policy on Iran.
03:05And if you have seen, in the last one year,
03:08President Donald Trump has taken various measures against Iran.
03:10So, you know, he might have given this indication that presently or in the given condition,
03:15Iran may be off-hook from any imminent military action in the immediate, you know, in the near future.
03:24But he doesn't want to give out the message that, you know, Iran is off-hook from his policy.
03:28And therefore, he might have tweeted that, you know, we are looking forward for a situation where, you know,
03:33Iran is not taking any capital, not carrying out any capital punishment against the protesters or punishing them.
03:40But there is pressure on Iran.
03:43They are taking economic measures.
03:44In fact, this is President Donald Trump and his administration's policy to tighten the nose of those factors,
03:51the reasons which actually caused people in Iran to come out on street,
03:56making things difficult for Iran to do business with other countries,
03:59be it 25% additional tariff or putting additional economic sanctions.
04:03What does it lead to?
04:05It leads to the economic, you know, worsening of the condition for Iran.
04:09But Pranay, at the end of the day, there are pressure points.
04:13Military intervention would have meant spillover into Gulf,
04:16would have meant spike in oil prices,
04:18and would have meant near-complete collapse of economy,
04:21including the United States of America.
04:24I'm sure these are considerations why we are looking at a delayed response, military.
04:29Not only the domestic consideration for President Donald Trump and U.S. economy,
04:33but also the consideration for the West Asian economies, for Gulf countries,
04:38some of the important and significant allies for the United States,
04:42be it Saudi Arabia, be it Qatar, be it other countries where U.S. has significant interest,
04:47as well as their significant military presence.
04:50But you have seen, you know, Gita, in the past,
04:52we have seen that, you know, how President Donald Trump has given conflicting messages.
04:56But he did carry out military action, as he said, you know, against Iran and targeted its military establishment.
05:03We have seen that he has consistently delivered on, you know, tightening news against Iran,
05:09and taking stringent measures, be it his first term of 2016 to 2020.
05:15And even during his second term, we have seen a consistency of his policy on putting pressure on Iran
05:21and weakening the Iranian government.
05:23Now, this is for the Iranian establishment, Iranian government and Islamic regime,
05:27how long they can hold.
05:28But there are repeated signs.
05:31And now we have to see that how Iran delivers for their domestic audience and for their own people
05:36to ease up the economic situation and economic conditions.
05:40Because repeatedly, Iranian society is also giving out this message that things are not going okay in Iran.
05:47Right, absolutely.
05:48For now, there's a massive squeeze again on Iran.
05:51But we'll have to wait and see what President Trump does when it comes to an intervention.
05:55Any aircraft carrier is a week away.
