Tensions between the US and Iran have reached a critical mass after Trump authorized the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Trump and his administration are weighing the possibility of levying heavier sanctions on Iran, and framing them as an alternative to war. But as Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, notes, sanctions are paramount to war.

Bennis joined MSNBC to discuss the devastating impact U.S. sanctions are having on the Iranian civilian population.

Bennis begins speaking at about the 10-minute mark.