US, Allies Prepare Iran Sanctions; Israel War Cabinet Reconvenes
| Published Apr 17, 2024 | 11:30 a.m.
The United States and its friends are getting ready to put more pressure on Iran with fresh sanctions after its unprecedented attack on Israel. They want to stop Israel from making things worse, so Israel's top leaders will meet again on Wednesday to talk about what to do next.
Even though the attack on Saturday night didn't cause much harm, thanks to Israel's strong defenses, people are worried that the fighting could spread. They're afraid that Iran and Israel, who
Israel's military leader, Herzi Halevi, promised to hit back after Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. But he didn't say exactly how they would respond. The meeting of Israel's top leaders, which was supposed to happen on Tuesday, was pushed to Wednesday, showing how serious the situation is.
To stop Israel from fighting back too hard, the US and Europe are planning to punish Iran with more sanctions. The US wants to target Iran's missile and drone programs with these new sanctions, and they expect their friends to do the same.
The US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, said they would use sanctions to stop Iran from causing more trouble. She said they have lots of ways to do this, and they'll announce more sanctions against Iran soon. European Union leaders also want to make things harder for Iran by expanding their sanctions.
Leaders from around the world are telling Israel to stay calm. They don't want the situation to get worse. The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said that fighting more in the Middle East would only make things more dangerous. And the Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoko Kamikawa, asked Israel to be careful during a phone call with Israel's foreign minister.
People in Iran are already having a hard time with money problems and fighting in the streets. Since the fighting started in Gaza, there have been fights between Israel and groups backed by Iran in other places too, like Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
In Gaza, where lots of people have died because of the fighting, Iranians are happy about what Iran did. But in Israel, the fighting with the group Hamas, which gets help from Iran, is making things worse. People are worried that the fighting will get even worse than it already is.
