The United States has disclosed that it has put more than 500 sanctions in place on Iran and Iranian entities for the bombardment of airstrike on Israel on Saturday.
This was disclosed by the State Department Spokesman, Mathew Miller when responding to questions from journalists at the Press Briefing on Monday.
He said, “So we have been consulting with partners on this very question over the past several days. When I read out the Secretary’s calls, one of the things that he – we have talked about in those calls are any further actions to hold Iran accountable for its behavior.
“You have seen that this administration have taken action since day one of the attack to hold Iran accountable. We have put more than 500 sanctions in place on Iran, Iranian entities. And we will continue to hold them accountable, but I don’t have any specific measures to announce today”, he said.
Commenting on the airstrike attack, Miller hailed the defensive effort, according to him, “the intercept Iran’s drones and missiles was effective, successfully preventing what could have been a significant loss of life. This was a shared success, and the United States is proud to have played a critical role in it.
He revealed that over the past two days following the attack, President Joe Biden and the Secretary, Antony Blinken have consulted extensively with partners in the region and around the world.
“Secretary Blinken spoke yesterday with the foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and he continues to make calls with foreign counterparts today”.
Adding that the United States will continue to emphasize the importance of international community act as a united front in condemning such reckless escalatory acts. “Such behavior threatens to destabilize the region and endangers all its people, and Iran’s attack violated the sovereignty of several states in the region”.
He made it clear the United States commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct. “Our contributions to Israel’s defense against Iran are clear manifestation of that commitment.
“So too are our efforts to advance a ceasefire of at least six weeks in Gaza, which would secure the release of all remaining hostages and create a pathway to a more enduring peace.
“We remain committed to advancing that work and providing lasting peace, security for Israel, for the Palestinian people, and for the broader region, and we will continue to engage regional and international partners urgently on these areas in the coming days”.
Speaking on if Isreal is making effort to retaliate, the Spokesman said, “When we have talked to Israel we have made clear, as we demonstrated on Saturday, that we are committed to their defense. And of course, we will continue to make clear to everyone that we talk to that we want to see de-escalation.
“That we don’t want to see this conflict further escalated, we don’t want to see a wider regional war. That’s something that’s been the goal of this administration since October 7th and we have worked to achieve. But beyond that, I don’t want to get into private diplomatic conversations”, he said.
