US sending more troops to Gulf; Trump announces Iran sanctions – World

The United States announced Friday that it will send military reinforcements to the Gulf region after attacks on Saudi oil facilities attributed to Iran, just hours after President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against Tehran.

Trump said the sanctions were the toughest against another country, but said he did not plan a military attack and called moderation a sign of strength.

The Treasury Department renewed the action against the central bank of Iran after US officials said Tehran carried out weekend attacks against rival oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, resulting in an increase in world crude oil prices.

Those attacks, combined with an Iranian attack on an American spy plane in June, represented a "dramatic escalation of Iranian aggression," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said.

The Pentagon chief announced that the United States would send military reinforcements to the Gulf region at the request of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"In response to the request of the kingdom, the president approved the deployment of US forces, which will be defensive in nature and will focus primarily on air and missile defense," Esper said.

However, Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford classified the deployment as "moderate", and the number of troops is not expected to reach thousands.

Earlier in the day, Trump attacked critics who thought the tycoon turned president would unleash the war and the hawks that sought a military response.

"The easiest thing I could do (is) eliminate 15 different important things in Iran," Trump said.

"But I think the strong person approach and what shows strength would be to show some moderation," he said.

In June, Trump authorized a military attack after Iran shot down the US spy drone, only to cancel it at the last moment.

Extensive damage

Saudi Arabia on Friday revealed significant damage from attacks on the facilities of state giant Aramco in Khurais and the world's largest oil processing facility in Abqaiq.

The attacks, which destroyed half of Saudi Arabia's oil production, have been claimed by the Houthi rebels allegedly backed by Iran from Yemen, but Washington has pointed its finger at Tehran, condemning the attacks as an "act of war."

Abqaiq was beaten 18 times, while nearby Khurais was hit four times in a raid that triggered multiple explosions and high flames that took hours to extinguish, Aramco officials said.

Aramco took dozens of international journalists to the two sites to show that it was accelerating repairs, giving rare access to the nerve center of the world's largest oil producer, as it seeks to bolster investor confidence before an initial planned public offering ( IPO).

Meanwhile, Yemen's Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly attacked Saudi Arabia’s key infrastructure in recent months in cross-border attacks, unexpectedly announced Friday night that they planned to stop all attacks in the country.

The measure, they said, was part of a peace initiative to end the devastating conflict in their country that killed tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, and led millions more to the brink of famine.
Iran denies the accusations of the United States and Saudi Arabia that it arms the Huthis.

New land for sanctions

The United States already maintains radical sanctions against Iran, including at its central bank, and anyone who treats it subject to prosecution, due to Tehran's alleged nuclear program.

But Friday's new sanctions were imposed for the additional reason of "terrorism," the Treasury said, adding that Iran's central bank had provided "billions of dollars" to two blacklisted groups in the United States.

"The Treasury's action points to a crucial financing mechanism that the Iranian regime uses to support its terrorist network, including the Qods Force, Hezbollah and other militants that spread terror and destabilize the region," said the Secretary of the Treasury of the States. United, Steven Mnuchin.

The Qods Force conducts international operations for the elite Revolutionary Guards of Iran, while Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group and political party in Lebanon, is among Iran's closest regional partners.

Iran responded that the measure showed that the United States was running out of options.

Washington also imposed sanctions on Iran's sovereign wealth fund, whose board of directors includes President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Etemad Tejarate Pars, a company that, according to the Treasury Department, had sent money internationally on behalf of Iran's defense ministry .

Trump recently said he hopes to talk to Rouhani, who responded that Trump must first ease the sanctions.

Last year, Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran negotiated under former President Barack Obama, which led to increased tensions while trying to prevent all countries from buying oil from Iran.