Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuTomer Neuberg/Flash90

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's decision to toughen sanctions against Israel's archfoe Iran, a government statement said.

"Iran's aggression has increased of late, including in the Gulf, and this is precisely the time to increase pressure and sanctions. I am pleased that President Trump has done exactly this," it quoted Netanyahu as saying.

President Trump announced Wednesday that he had ordered a “substantial increase” in sanctions on Iran.

“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!” he wrote on Twitter.

The move comes after Saturday’s drone strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, which the country said had disrupted about half of the kingdom's oil capacity, or 5% of the daily global oil supply.