US to impose ‘strongest sanctions in history’ on Iran
WASHINGTON, DC: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned Teheran would be hit with the “strongest sanctions in history” and cautioned European firms against continuing to do business with it, toughening up Washington’s policy line after its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
In his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the Central Intelligence Agency, the long-time Iran hawk and ardent opponent of the 2015 nuclear pact outlined an aggressive series of moves designed to counter Teheran,.
“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The leaders in Teheran will have no doubt about our seriousness,” Pompeo said.
“This sting of sanctions will be painful if the regime does not change its course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen to one that rejoins the league of nations.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the threats, saying the rest of the world no longer accepted Washington making decisions on their behalf.
“Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?” Rouhani said in a statement.
“The world today does not accept that the US decides for the world. Countries have their independence.”
Pompeo said if Iran were to abide by stricter terms, including ending its ballistic missile programme and its interventions in regional conflicts from Yemen to Syria, the US would lift its new sanctions.
President Donald Trump had long said the 2015 deal with Iran — also signed by Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — did not go far enough, and now wants the Europeans and others to support his hard-line strategy.
The deal was designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The international community, including top US officials, had said Teheran had been in compliance.
But Trump despised the deal, pointing to other aspects of Iranian behaviour not covered in the pact, and on May 8, he pulled the US out despite intense diplomatic lobbying by European allies who had beseeched him to stick with it by adding tougher new elements.