Energy

Trump: Iran's Diplomacy Statement 'Ignorant', 'Insulting'


(Updated: 10:51 AM)

Topline: Iranian officials declared Tuesday the diplomatic path between Iran and the U.S. is closed permanently, citing the fresh round of sanctions President Trump imposed on Iran Monday, with Trump slamming Iran’s president for ridiculing the U.S. in a televised address, amid growing evidence the new batch of sanctions are much less effective than Trump’s administration is advertising.

  • “Outrageous” and “idiotic” were two words (among other insults) Iranian president Hassan Rouhani used during his Tuesday televised address to describe new sanctions targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s access to his personal financial resources.
  • Abbas Mousavi, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, tweeted Tuesday the new sanctions meant “permanent closure” of diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran.
  • Trump tweeted, “Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words ‘nice’ or ‘compassion,’ they never have.” He added, “The wonderful Iranian people are suffering, and for no reason at all,” and called Iran’s cessation of diplomacy “ignorant” and “insulting.”
  • The New York Times reported the sanctions imposed on Iran’s supreme leader are likely ineffective, as the sanctions target the international banking system and investment vehicles in Europe and elsewhere—places Iranian officials typically do not keep financial assets.
  • Oil prices rose above 8% over the past week due to fear of U.S./Iran conflict. Prices eased Tuesday, hedging on productive talks between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping during the G-20 Summit on July 28 and 29.
  • Iran’s citizens are adversely affected by the sanctions, according to CBS News. Inflation is over 37%, 12% of its work-eligible citizens are unemployed, and a bare-bones cell phone costs two months salary.

Key background: Trump imposed Monday’s sanctions in retaliation for Iran shooting down a U.S. Navy drone it claimed was in its airspace (the U.S. maintains the drone was flying over international waters.) And Tuesday’s announcement of shuttered diplomacy is the latest chapter of a yearlong period of tense U.S./Iran relations, beginning with Trump’s 2018 withdrawal of an international agreement designed to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In the agreement’s place, Trump imposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran. In May and June, two different oil tanker attacks occurred off Iran’s coast. Iran denied involvement, but the U.S. blamed Iran for both incidents. Fears of conflict drove up oil prices, as Iran borders a known shipping route for the global oil supply.





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