US imposes stricter sanctions on Tehran
Defiant Iran decries ‘ bullying’, vows to ‘ bypass’ curbs and sell oil
The United States imposed strict sanctions targeting Iran’s oil, banking and industrial sectors on Monday and threatened more action to stop Tehran from pursuing “outlaw” policies, steps the Islamic Republic condemned as economic warfare and vowed to defy.
The measures are part of a wider effort by US President Donald Trump to curb Tehran’s missile and nuclear programmes and diminish the Islamic Republic’s influence in the Middle East, notably its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.
“The Iranian regime has a choice: it can either do a 180- degree turn from its outlaw course of action and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble,” US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told reporters.
“We hope a new agreement with Iran is possible,” he added. “Rest assured, Iran will never come close to getting a nuclear weapon on President Trump’s watch,” Mr Pompeo said.
The move restores, and strengthens, sanctions lifted under a2015 international agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme from which Washington withdrew in May at Mr Trump’s behest.
In a statement, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the move “should make clear to the Iranian regime that they will face mounting financial isolation and economic stagnation until they fundamentally change their destabilising behaviour.”
The sanctions target Iran’s vital oil industry, although major customers such as China and India were given temporary exemptions.
They also cover 50 Iranian banks and subsidiaries, more than 200 persons and vessels in its shipping sector, Tehran’s national airline, Iran Air, and more than 65 of its aircraft, the Treasury statement said.
In reaction, a senior Iranian official who declined to be identified said Tehran was not concerned about the sanctions and will not yield to pressure to change its policies.
Hours earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would continue to sell its oil despite Washington’s “economic war”.
Iran has a choice: it can either do a 180° turn from its outlaw course and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble — Mike Pompeo, US secy of state
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5: The United States is reimposing punitive measures targeting the Iranian oil and financial sectors in what US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called “the toughest sanctions ever placed” against Iran.
Taking effect Monday, the measures are the most concrete result yet of US President Donald Trump’s controversial decision in May to abandon the multi- nation nuclear deal with Tehran.
They will directly affect companies from third countries doing business with Iran. They could upset world oil markets, though the US has granted temporary waivers to eight jurisdictions to continue importing Iranian oil.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the measures on Saturday, saying Trump had “disgraced” US prestige and would be the ultimate loser in the longrunning quarrel between the countries.
“Sanctions from the United States will be reimposed at midnight tonight,” Pompeo told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He said what he called “the terror regime” in Tehran must change its ways.
World oil markets were on alert, nervously set to gauge the consequences of the sanctions.
“All eyes will be on Iranian exports, whether there will be some cheating around US sanctions, and on how quickly production will fall,” said Riccardo Fabiani, an analyst for Energy Aspects.
Oil is Iran’s main source of income. But the sword has two edges: Iran is also the OPEC cartel's third- largest producer.
The US stance has already inflicted serious pain on Iranians, with the country’s currency, the rial, losing more than two thirds of its value since May.
Iranian oil exports have fallen by about a million barrels a day in that time, though India and China have continued to purchase it. Most Europeans, as well as Japan and South Korea, have stopped.
Asked if the US had firm commitments from India and China to stop all oil purchases from Iran within six months, Pompeo replied: “Watch what we do. Watch as we’ve already taken more crude oil off the market than any time in previous history.” Saudi Arabia is the only country with the capacity to make up for lost Iranian oil production.
Hours before the fresh sanctions went ahead, thousands of people in Iran marked the anniversary of the 1979 hostagetaking at the US embassy by carrying placards mocking Trump and burning American flags and fake dollars.
Trump has long argued that the 2015 nuclear deal is badly flawed, in part because its provisions would expire in 10 to 15 years and partly because it does not adequately constrain Iran’s destabilising behavior in the region.
His decision was widely criticized abroad and by Democrats at home, who said that while imperfect, the pact had placed the Iranian nuclear program under the tightest scrutiny ever.
In parallel with the imposition of the crude oil sanctions, the US Treasury Department is placing more than 600 Iranian individuals and entities on a black list.
And Pompeo said that any Iranian banks involved in “sanctionable behavior will be sanctioned by the Department of Treasury, period, full stop.”