President Donald Trump has said that he will sign a bill that will place new sanctions against Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The sanctions against Russia have received the most attention, especially since Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate. But the bill has sanctions against North Korea and Iran over nuclear weapons and missiles, which both countries vow to continue working on.
From Fox News:
The North Korea sanctions are intended to thwart Pyongyang’s ambition for nuclear weapons by cutting off access to the cash the reclusive nation needs to follow through with its plans. The bill prohibits ships owned by North Korea or by countries that refuse to comply with U.N. resolutions against it from operating in American waters or docking at U.S. ports.Goods produced by North Korea’s forced labor would be prohibited from entering the United States, according to the bill.The sanctions package imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure would apply terrorism sanctions to the country’s Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.
But the North Korean regime stated that its Friday night missile test occurred because of the sanctions Trump intends to sign into law:
North Korea said Sunday its latest test missile, deemed by weapons experts as capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, was a “stern warning” to Washington against a new round of sanctions aimed at Pyongyang.The North Korean Foreign Ministry said Washington should “wake up from the foolish dream of doing any harm” to the reclusive communist nation.
Iran has called the sanctions “hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable,” but the regime vowed to continue to continue its weapon program:
“It’s ultimately an effort to weaken the nuclear deal” but, “we will continue with full power our missile programme,” Bahram Ghasemi, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said on Saturday (29 July) — a day after the US announced a new set of sanctions targeting Tehran’s missile programme.”The military and missile fields […] are our domestic policies and others have no right to intervene or comment on them,” Ghasemi added.
Probably not. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also said that “the time for talk is over” when it comes to North Korea after the kingdom tested a ballistic missile on Friday. From CNN:
North Korea “is already subject to numerous Security Council resolutions that they violate with impunity,” Haley said Sunday.Instead, she pointed to China, saying Beijing “must decide if it is finally willing to take this vital step” of challenging Pyongyang.Haley’s comments echoed President Donald Trump on Saturday, who said he was “very disappointed in China.””Our foolish past leaders have allowed (Beijing) to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk,” Trump tweeted.
That same CNN article argues that there is no good option when it comes to North Korea, especially with China:
The Obama and Trump administrations have placed great weight on Beijing acting to contain its neighbor and longtime ally, but some analysts warn assumptions about China’s influence on the North Korean regime may be out of date.”Beijing’s channels to Pyongyang are frayed, they’re weak,” said John Delury, an expert on Chinese-Korean relations at Seoul’s Yonsei University.”President Trump’s tweets reflect this inherited Obama view that the road to Pyongyang leads through Beijing — that’s a dead end.”
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