[Bai Fei, a special correspondent of Global Times in Iran] The US aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force are heading for the Middle East with the goal of "deterring Iran". It is not uncommon to deploy aircraft carriers to the Middle East. However, this deployment was not announced by the Pentagon, but by the hawkish US Presidential National Security Assistant Bolton, which was regarded as "unusual" by the media. Qatar Al Jazeera said on the 6th that "this is almost a provocation". "Russia Today" TV station even questioned on the 6 th that Bolton "is going to launch a war before the end of this week?" After putting pressure on Iran’s "zero export" of oil, Trump is going to announce sanctions on Iran’s "new economic sector" on Wednesday. Facing the American pressure, Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Zamagni Nya said on the 5th that Iran has used all its resources to sell oil in the "grey market" to circumvent the "illegal" US sanctions against Iraq.
Today, Russian TV reported on the 6th that Bolton’s statement caused a lot of criticism. Some people said that he was diverting his attention from instigating the failure of the military coup in Venezuela. Bolton has always been a foreign policy hardliner, including supporting the war in Iraq. Some Pentagon officials believe that he may "accelerate the war with Iran." Link, a reporter from American Weekly magazine, wrote on Twitter on the 6th that Bolton vowed in his statement that he would not attack Iran, which was obviously misleading, because he knew very well that he was seeking war with Iran, and he was "so energetic" in the government.
The British "Guardian" said that Bolton has been pushing to show toughness against Iran, North Korea and Venezuela. At the end of last month, when Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif visited the United States, he warned that Trump had a "Group B" around him, including Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which might push Trump into conflict with Iran. He said that Trump’s goal "is to make us yield to negotiate", but Bolton and the key allies of the United States in the Middle East hope that there will be at least "regime change" in Iran and that Iran will collapse.
According to the "Capitol Hill" website, the Trump administration is preparing to announce a new round of sanctions against Iran while not allowing Iran to export crude oil. The report quoted two senior US officials as saying that the sanctions will be announced on Wednesday and will have a significant impact on "new sectors" of the Iranian economy. They did not say which sector would be affected, but said "it is not energy".
Iranian media said on the 6th that the new round of sanctions against Iran being planned by the US government will include cutting off Iran’s export of petrochemical products to Singapore and consumer products to Afghanistan and Iraq, which can help Iran obtain US dollar income channels other than crude oil exports. Once these new sanctions come into effect, it will be difficult for Iran to indirectly obtain the income from exporting dollars through Singapore, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Armenia, Turkey and other third countries.
Over the years, Iran has a set of self-contained measures to evade sanctions, such as setting up leather bag companies and financial trading institutions in third countries to handle foreign trade settlement between Iran and other countries. For this "gray operation", previous US administrations often turn a blind eye, and once these "gray spaces" to evade sanctions are targeted by the Trump administration, Tehran’s financial dilemma will be more serious. According to statistics, since the United States imposed sanctions last November, Iran’s oil revenue has decreased by more than $10 billion. Once a new round of sanctions comes into effect, it will be more difficult for Iran to obtain foreign exchange income.