U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly fired his National Security Advisor John Bolton, over apparent disagreement on how to handle foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia. TV7 is not able to provide additional concrete details rover Bolton’s unexpected departure.
During a joint briefing by the Secretaries of State and Treasury, Mike Pompeo and Steve Mnuchin respectively, reporters enquired whether Washington’s policy may now shift in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mnuchin stated unequivocally that the President, Pompeo and he were “completely aligned on our maximum pressure campaign,” telling the media that “I think you know we’ve done more sanctions on Iran than anybody and it’s absolutely working.” When asked whether he foresaw possible talks between President Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the upcoming opening of the United Nations General Assembly, Pompeo replied, “ Sure, the President has made it very clear: he’s prepared to meet with no preconditions.”
The State Department press conference also served as a forum to unveil a fresh set of sanctions against individuals belonging to Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and other designated terror groups. U.S. officials said the new measures are aimed at “seeking to deny these terrorists the resources to plan and carry out attacks.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz welcomed the latest punitive U.S. sanctions as vital in the global effort to end to aggressive behavior by the Islamic Republic and its regional proxies.