Finance Minister Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday of potential global economic damage from rising tensions within the Middle East, because the Biden administration said it was preparing recent sanctions in response to Iran’s malign activities within the region.
Yellen spoke out against Iran’s “malign and destabilizing activities” in remarks to the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank this week and said Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend “underscores the importance of the Treasury’s work, our economic one.” “Use tools to counter Iran’s malign activities.”
She added: “From this weekend’s attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran’s actions threaten the stability of the region and could have economic repercussions.”
Iran attack on Israel got here early Sunday in response to what it said was an Israeli Attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month. Israel’s military chief said on Monday that his country would reply to the attack, while world leaders warned of retaliation and sought to avoid a spiral of violence.
As the IMF and its partner lending agency, the World Bank, have their say Spring meeting this weekAt the highest of the agenda are the rapidly increasing tensions between Iran and Israel and the possible consequences of an escalation for the worldwide economy.
Meanwhile, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said Tuesday that upcoming U.S. sanctions would goal Iran’s missile and drone programs, in addition to units supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Ministry.
“We expect our allies and partners to impose their own sanctions soon,” Sullivan said in a press release. “In addition, we continue to work through the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command to further strengthen and expand the successful integration of air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to further increase the effectiveness of Iran’s missile and UAV capabilities undermined.” ”
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month term War against Hamas fighters within the Gaza Strip. The war broke out after two Iranian-backed militant groups led an attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. An Israeli offensive within the Gaza Strip has caused widespread devastation, killing over 33,000 people, in keeping with local health authorities.
“Since the start of the administration, we have targeted over 500 individuals and organizations linked to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies,” Yellen said, citing sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile programs, the militant group Hamas , the Houthis, Hezbollah and other Iraqi militia groups.
Yellen said she expected the extra sanctions to be announced in the approaching days.
The annual meeting comes as other ongoing conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, threaten global financial stability.
Yellen in February offered her the strongest public support nor for the concept of liquidating about $300 billion in frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank and using them for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine.
She said Tuesday that the U.S. “continues to work with our international partners to unlock the economic value of immobilized Russian state assets and ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has caused.” Yellen added that on Wednesday will meet with Group of Seven financial leaders to proceed discussions on the difficulty and can “explore a range of options ranging from actually seizing the assets to using them as collateral.”
Another necessary topic of this 12 months’s meetings on the US side, Yellen said, is the continuing discussions about Chinese industrial policy, which is an issue Threat to US jobs and the worldwide economy. She traveled to Guangzhou and Beijing Earlier this month, she had “difficult conversations” along with her colleagues about what she described as China’s excess capability in its wave of low cost Chinese green tech exports, which could overwhelm U.S. factories and make it inconceivable for them to compete.
Yellen said she plans to fulfill along with her Chinese counterparts later this week for a fourth meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Financial Working Groups “to share information, identify potential areas of cooperation and, if we disagree.” to specific concerns openly.”
The U.S. Treasury and China’s Treasury launched the economic working groups to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations.
