Trump announces 'substantial increase' in Iran sanctions by tweet
Donald Trump has announced by tweet that he is increasing sanctions on Iran, following the weekend attacks on Saudi oil installations.
The president tweeted: "I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!"
Tehran has denied any involvement in the attacks on two Saudi oil installations, which the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen has claimed responsibility for.
It was not immediately clear what new sanctions were being implemented. The US has increased sanctions on Iran since unilaterally withdrawing from the nuclear deal in 2018.
The president has previously said that US and Saudi investigators were trying to determine whether Iran was responsible.
On Monday he said: "Well, it's looking that way. We’ll have some pretty good -- we’re having some very strong studies done, but it’s certainly looking that way at this moment. And we’ll let you know. As soon as we find out definitively, we’ll let you know. But it does look that way."
Asked about whether military action was possible, he insisted that he did not want to go to war but added: "I don’t want war with anybody. But we’re prepared more than anybody."
Iran responded by saying it would retaliate "immediately" to any attack.
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