International
The United States and its allies will sanction Iran “in the coming days” for the attack on Israel
The US Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, said on Tuesday that the United States and its allies will sanction Iran “in the coming days” for the attack on Israel.
“We will take additional measures against Iran in the coming days,” he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which are being held this week in Washington.
Yellen said that he will use those meetings, attended by the Ministers of Economy and Finance from almost the world, to coordinate a new round of sanctions against Iran.
“We never give details of the sanctions before announcing them. But in the conversations I have had, all the options to interrupt Iran’s terrorist financing are still on the table,” he stressed.
The head of the Treasury did not offer details about what sanctions they will impose on Iran the U.S. and its allies; but, asked by the press, she mentioned the possibility of increasing controls to prevent Tehran from bypassing the US sanctions they already thought about its oil sector.
“Iran continues to export some oil. It is possible that something else can be done. I don’t want to advance anything about the sanctions that we could impose but, without a doubt, that is one of the areas that we could address,” he simply said.
In 2018, under the administration of Donald Trump, the United States again imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector and, since then, the Joe Biden Administration has tried to enforce those restrictions by imposing sanctions on companies from different countries that help Tehran export oil.
Despite these efforts, Iran continues to be able to evade US sanctions to export oil, China being one of its main customers.
The United States is studying with its G7 partners to impose more sanctions on Iran and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group after the attack on Israel.
Several countries have already designated the Revolutionary Guard, a branch of the Armed Forces of Iran created after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, as a terrorist group.
In 2019, the United States included the Revolutionary Guard on the blacklist of terrorist groups, while the Government of Canada said in January of this year that it was studying ways to include the Revolutionary Guard on its list of terrorist organizations.
For its part, the European Union (EU) is currently studying new sanctions against Iran to contain its drone and missile programs, according to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Sunday.
These efforts by the United States and its allies to promote new sanctions against Iran occur while several countries in the West have urged Israel to show restraint and avoid a strong military response to Iran’s attack, at the risk of triggering a large-scale war in the Middle East.
The spring meetings of the WB and the IMF that are held this week in Washington will bring together the world’s leading finance and economic ministers.
In addition, in parallel with those events, it is planned that there will be meetings of the ministers of Economy and Finance of the G20 and also of the G24, a group that brings together developing countries, including Iran.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
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