New sanctions expected to heavily impact Iranian economy

The U.S. is set to impose more sanctions on Iran today with hopes of forcing Tehran to the negotiating table amid a deepening crisis.

Iran has held firm against the crippling sanctions so far, and sees the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” tactic as “tantamount to war.”

“They use this phrase, ‘economic terrorism,’ so for them, these sanctions have already waged a war,” said ABC News Foreign Correspondent James Longman.

The sanctions are the latest response to Iran’s shooting down of an unmanned U.S. military drone last week.

President Donald Trump on Thursday called off a retaliatory military strike, instead authorizing a cyberattack on Iranian computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is currently in Saudi Arabia, working to form an international coalition against Iran.