President Trump is reimposing U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as a part of the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Trump announced the decision to withdraw the U.S. from the deal earlier this year.
The May decision to withdraw from the Iran deal, officially dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave a 90-day wind-down period for some business activities, and a 120-day wind-down period for others. Some sanctions will be reimposed Tuesday, while others will be reimposed on Nov. 5.
According to an executive order from the president, the reimposed sanctions are meant “to advance the goal of applying financial pressure on the Iranian regime in pursuit of a comprehensive and lasting solution to the full range of the threats posed by Iran, including Iran’s proliferation and development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities, its network and campaign of regional aggression, its support for terrorist groups, and the malign activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its surrogates.”
The announcement comes after Mr. Trump said last week that he would be open to meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at any point, with “no preconditions.”
“The president has been very clear,” a senior administration official told reporters in a call explaining the sanctions Monday. “None of this needs to happen. He will meet with the Iranian leadership at any time to discuss a real comprehensive deal that will contain their regional ambitions, will end their malign behavior, and deny them any path to a nuclear weapon.”
The sanctions that go back into effect immediately affect any purchase of U.S. bank notes by Iran’s government, Iran’s trade in precious metals like gold, graphite, aluminum, steel, coal and software in industrial processes, Iran’s automotive sector, transactions related to the Iranian rial, and Iran’s issuing of sovereign debt, according to the White House.
The sanctions that will be reimposed come November include those on Iran’s port operators and energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, any of Iran’s petroleum-related transactions, and foreign financial institutions with the Central Bank of Iran.
Another senior administration official said the administration is “not looking to grant waivers” to companies or governments who want to continue to receive Iranian oil imports, but is “glad to discuss and look at requests on a case-by-case basis.”
Source » cbsnews