President Trump on Wednesday morning ordered the U.S. Treasury to "substantially increase" sanctions against Iran.
The escalating measure follows several days of heightened tensions between the two countries over the attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. Trump's instructions to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also come after several statements this week from Iranian leaders reiterating that Iran will not negotiate with the U.S. while sanctions are imposed.
"If the U.S. wants to have a seat at the negotiating table, it must return to its commitments and show that it's a reliable country," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Tehran on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media. "If we can't rely on it, it's not a country with which there can be an agreement."
Tensions first flared after the U.S. blamed Iran for the drone attacks on two Saudi state-owned oil installations on Saturday. Iran has repeatedly, and vehemently, denied the charge; even sending a formal letter to Trump via the Swiss Ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Tehran, denying involvement, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Diplomatic relations deteriorated last year after Trump made good on a campaign promise and withdrew the U.S. from the 2016 Iranian nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In November 2018, the U.S. Treasury re-imposed harsh sanctions, which had been rescinded under the JCPOA, on "critical sectors of Iran's economy" including energy, transportation, and finance. The U.S. also imposed sanctions on over 700 individual Iranian officials.
Over the last year, Iran has refused to publicly engage with the Trump administration until the U.S. recommits to the nuclear pact, which it withdrew from despite objections from the other signatories and international monitoring groups that confirmed Iran was complying with the JCPOA. Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly expressed a willingness to negotiate with Iran and meet with its top leaders.
"We'll see what happens … I think Iran has a tremendous, tremendous potential," Trump said last week — before the attack in Saudi Arabia — on whether he will meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations' General Assembly, which kicked off in New York this week.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, however, said Tuesday that "there will be absolutely no negotiation between the officials of the Islamic Republic and the U.S. at any level; neither in New York and not anywhere else."
<i>Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki displays what he described as an Iranian drones used in the attack this weekend on Saudi Arabia's oil industry. Photo Credit: Amr Nabil/AP/Shutterstock</i>
At a press conference in Riyadh on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense presented the wreckage of drones that it claimed struck the two oil plants. Officials said the debris pointed to decisive evidence that Iran was directly involved in the attack, which briefly crippled one of the world's most important oil facilities and sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The Houthi group in Yemen, which is backed by Iran and is currently at war with a Saudi-led coalition, had claimed responsibility for the attack but did not provide conclusive evidence for the claim.
Despite direct accusations against Iran from top U.S. officials, Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. was "waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack" before responding. Trump did not elaborate as to whether the sanction hike was a direct response to the attack in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to inquiries from Cheddar.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
