WASHINGTON - Sanctions imposed on some stubborn countries are a better option than military conflicts, Steve Mnuchin claimed, just as the US rolled out fresh penalties against Iran and EU firms helping build a German-Russian pipeline.
“The reason why we’re using sanctions is because they are an important alternative for world military conflicts. And I believe it’s worked,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Saturday. He singled out North Korea and Iran or “other places in the world” where, in his view, such tactics did “work.”
The dollar plays a vital role in piling pressure on Washington’s rivals, but such a tactic may be far from flawless, the Treasury chief warned: “And over a long period of time, if we’re not careful, people will look at using other currencies.”
Anticipating potential outrage, the Treasury Secretary then threw a bit of pacifist rhetoric into the conversation. The US is “not weaponizing the US dollar,” and it is in Washington’s interest that “people use the dollar as the reserve currency of the world.” (RT)