Date: Monday, November 25, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

Iran Warnings & Sanctions

General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, told the New York Times last week that he expects Iran to continue destabilizing the region with major attacks like the recent missile strike against a Saudi oil facility. In a series of statements, Gen. McKenzie said:

"My judgment is that it is very possible [Iran] will attack again. . . It's the trajectory and the direction that they're on. The attack on the oil fields in Saudi was stunning in the depth of its audaciousness. I wouldn't rule that out going forward."

Of course, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares Gen. McKenzie's concerns. Last week, Iranian forces based in Syria fired rockets at the Golan Heights. Iran is paying terrorist like Hamas and Hezbollah to launch to attacks against Israel. And Iran's leaders repeatedly threaten to destroy the Jewish state.

For example, in a speech broadcast today, General Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, threatened to destroy Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia.

During a tour along Israel's northern border yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned against Iran's belligerence, saying:

"Iran's aggression in our region, and against us, continues. We are taking all necessary actions to prevent Iran from entrenching here in our region. This includes the activity necessary to thwart the transfer of lethal weaponry from Iran to Syria. . . We will also take action to thwart Iran's effort to turn Iraq and Yemen into bases for launching rockets and missiles against the State of Israel.

"Our commitment and our readiness to struggle against Iranian aggression is absolute and we are acting with all means to prevent Iran from achieving its goals. I cannot go into more detail but this is a constant process.

"Pay attention to what General McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, responsible for U.S/ forces in the Middle East, said – that Iran is planning more attacks. I can confirm that. . .

"The leaders of Iran are concentrating on the citizens of Iran; they are slaughtering them. This is additional testimony to what kind of a regime this is. We will oppose it everywhere."

As the prime minister suggested, the Iranian regime's crackdown against recent anti-corruption protests has been brutal. The Trump Administration responded Friday by imposing sanctions against Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology, for his role in shutting down the Internet and enabling Tehran's censorship and suppression of the protests.

In announcing the latest sanctions against the regime's leadership, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said:

"Iran's leaders know that a free and open internet exposes their illegitimacy, so they seek to censor internet access to quell anti-regime protests. We are sanctioning Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology for restricting Internet access, including to popular messaging applications that help tens of millions of Iranians stay connected to each other and the outside world."