Iran

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Says Iran will Face More Sanctions, Plane Deals to be Reviewed

The Trump administration will seek to impose new sanctions on Iran and North Korea to “protect American lives,” Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin told Congress this week, Reuters reported Wednesday. Though he did not elaborate, he also said that the administration would be reviewing licenses issued to Boeing allowing the plane manufacturer to sell planes to Iran Air, Iran’s largest carrier.

Calling it a “big focus” of his and President Donald Trump, Mnuchin said, “We will use everything within our power to put additional sanctions on Iran, Syria and North Korea to protect American lives.”

On Thursday, a bill with strong bipartisan support targeting Iran’s non-nuclear behavior, including its support for terror and its ballistic missile program, passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is headed to the full Senate for a vote.

Mnuchin’s reference to reviewing the licenses allowing Boeing to sell Iran Air 80 planes comes amid continuing reports that Iran uses its civilian airlines, including Iran Air, to transport troops and weapons to Syria in support of the the government of Bashar al-Assad, in that nation’s civil war. More than 400,000 are estimated to have been killed in the war and millions more have been displaced.

[Photo: TIME / YouTube ]