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The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program in the coming days, as well as on entities supporting its army and defense ministry, in response to Tehran's retaliatory attack on Israel over the weekend that escalated Middle East tensions.
"We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions," said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
He added that the U.S. will strengthen air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to "erode the effectiveness of Iran's missile and UAV capabilities."
"We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions," Sullivan warned.
Iran launched missiles and drones over the weekend targeting Israel, in retaliation for an air strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria that killed 13 people. Tehran blamed Israel for the air strike, although Tel Aviv denied involvement. Iran's attack did not cause any fatalities and was largely intercepted by Israeli defense systems, with support from the U.S., U.K. and France.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for legislation that will impose sanctions on Chinese financial institutions involved in the purchase of Iranian crude. The legislation will now move to the Senate for approval. The House also voted on multiple bills to hold Iran and its proxies accountable.
Crude oil futures ended little changed on Tuesday, with analysts saying the U.S. may not impose dramatic sanctions on Iran's oil exports due to worries about boosting oil prices and angering top buyer China. Crude futures (CL1:COM) slipped in the early hours of Wednesday.