AND THE SANCTIONS HAVE COME – AT 11:05 A.M. ET:  The administration has just announced those sanctions on Iran that we mentioned in the post just below.  From Fox: 

The Trump administration followed up Friday on its vow to put Iran “on notice” over its recent missile tests and support for Shiite rebels in Yemen, imposing sanctions on 13 individuals and a dozen companies – while the U.S. Navy moved a destroyer into position off the coast of Yemen.

The president’s national security team had previewed possible action earlier in the week, and Trump warned Friday morning on Twitter that Iran was “playing with fire” with its recent actions.

The Treasury Department announced the additional sanction targets late Friday morning.

The sanctions, coming in the first weeks of Trump's term, reflect his administration's desire to take a strong stance toward Iran from the start. Throughout his campaign, Trump accused the Obama administration of being insufficiently tough on Iran and vowed to crack down if elected.

The move won praise from Republican allies in Congress.

“This announcement makes clear that it is a new day in U.S.-Iran relations and that we will no longer tolerate Iran’s destabilizing behavior,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “A coordinated, multi-faceted effort to pushback against a range of illicit Iranian behavior is long overdue.”

Trump’s team stepped up approach toward Iran in the wake of ballistic missile tests and a recent attack on a Saudi naval vessel by Tehran-backed militants in Yemen.

Military officials told Fox News that Iran actually has conducted two recent missile tests, one on Dec. 6 and another this past Sunday. U.N. resolution 2231 calls on the Islamic Republic not to conduct such tests.

Meanwhile, a defense official told Fox News that the USS Cole, the same warship attacked in Yemen in 2000, is now patrolling off the coast of that country in the Gulf of Aden.

COMMENT:  A proper and moderate first step, with a signal that there will be more to come if Iran continues its behavior.  Now we have to watch to see what Iran does.  We hope the Iranians back down, if only quietly, and realize there's a new policy in place in Washington.

I'd like to see more military power deployed to the region, so the president has an even stronger deterrent force available.  The idea is to prevent military conflict, not encourage it through weakness.

February 3, 2017