U.S. to sanction Iran apart from nuclear pact
Allies, EU urge Trump to keep previous deal
The Trump administration has said that it plans additional sanctions on Iran that are separate from those covered under the international nuclear deal, an indication that the president is unlikely to break the 2015 deal for now.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Thursday that it plans additional sanctions on Iran that are separate from those covered under the international nuclear deal with Iran, an indication that President Donald Trump is unlikely to break the 2015 deal now.
The president’s top national security advisers met with Trump on Thursday afternoon at the White House ahead of a deadline Friday for the president to again exempt Iran from a suite of tough economic sanctions imposed years ago. Announcement of the decision was expected Thursday night or Friday morning. If those sanctions are reimposed, the United States would violate the deal brokered by his predecessor that lifted sanctions in exchange for a rollback of Iran’s nuclear development program.
“You’re going to be finding out very soon,” Trump said Thursday when asked about Iran. “You’ll be finding that out very soon.”
U.S. officials and others have said Trump is expected to take the recommendation of senior advisers that he keep the old nuclear-related sanctions in suspension, while announcing new ones that would target other aspects of Iran’s behavior, including mass arrests during anti-government protests this month.
“I am expecting new sanctions on Iran,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday. “We continue to look at them, we’ve rolled them out, and you can expect there will be more sanctions coming.”
He did not say when, but other officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they expect the announcement of additional sanctions to be coordinated with what, to Trump, is the distasteful task of granting a waiver under the Iran deal he has blasted as weak and a giveaway to Iran.
Trump also faces a deadline Friday to say whether he will “certify” to Congress that Iran is complying with the deal and that it remains in U.S. interests to adhere to it. Trump declined to make that certification in October, throwing the deal into limbo but not breaking it outright.
Britain, France, Germany and the European Union united Thursday to call on the United States to protect the Iran nuclear pact. European powers that co-signed the deal say Iran has complied with its terms and deserves the sanctions relief it was promised.
The Trump administration and congressional leaders have sought European agreement on ways to toughen the deal, and such agreement is considered essential before U.S. legislation could go forward. A legislative “fix” Trump requested in October has not materialized.