Tehran facing pressure of further sanctions
Iran said yesterday that it would retaliate against new US sanctions after president Donald Trump signed a waiver for nuclear-related penalties for what he said could be the last time.
The US is seeking an agreement with European allies to strengthen key provisions in the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the EU.
“In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal,” Mr Trump said as he signed the 120-day waiver on Friday. He said it was “a last chance”.
Meanwhile, the US treasury department imposed new sanctions not related to the nuclear deal on the head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, and 13 others.
Iran’s foreign ministry yesterday described the sanctions against Mr Larijani, an ally of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as “hostile action”.
It said the move “crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community and is a violation of international law and will surely be answered by a serious reaction of the Islamic republic”. It did not elaborate.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had tweeted that the nuclear deal was “not renegotiable” and that Mr Trump’s move “amounts to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement”.
The US’s main areas of concern relate to Iran’s ballistic missile production, enrichment restrictions, inspections and the pact’s “sunset clause”, which would lead to restrictions on Iran’s enrichment programme being lifted after 2025.
Mr Trump laid out four conditions of any agreement on an amendment of the deal reached between the US congress and European allies.
“It must demand that Iran allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors” and “it must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon”.
The other two conditions are that “these provisions must have no expiration date” and that “the legislation must explicitly state in US law – for the first time – that long-range missile and nuclear weapons programmes are inseparable, and that Iran’s development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions”.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov called Mr Trump’s remarks “extremely negative”, while the EU said it would assess the implications of the president’s decision.
The sanctions came after anti-government protests in Iran.
“We are targeting the regime, including the head of Iran’s judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens,” treasury secretary Steven T Mnuchin said. “We are also targeting Iran’s missile programme, which it continues to prioritise over the economic well-being of the Iranian people.”
The sanctions also target Chinese figures and entities for their “support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators”.