More U.S. sanctions, but nuclear deal stands for now

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration slapped 18 Iranian individuals and groups with sanctions Tuesday for aiding the country’s nonnuclear weapons programs, in a bid to show that President Trump is staying tough on Iran despite his moves to let the nuclear deal stay in place for now.

The latest attempt to clamp down on Iran’s military financing ranged from an Iranian-based company that aided the country’s drone program to a Turkey-based provider of naval equipment and a China-based network that helped secure electronics for Tehran. The sanctions freeze any assets in the U.S. and prevent Americans from doing business with them.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sanctions “send a strong signal that the United States cannot and will not tolerate Iran’s provocative and destabilizing behavior.”

The announcement came only hours after the Trump administration told Congress for a second time that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal and can keep enjoying sanctions relief. The administration insisted Tehran was breaching “the spirit” of the deal.

Trump, who lambasted the 2015 pact as a candidate, gave himself more time to decide whether to scuttle it or let it stand. Instead, senior Trump administration officials sought to emphasize their deep concerns about Iran’s non-nuclear behavior and vowed that those transgressions won’t go unpunished.

During the campaign, Trump told the American Israel Political Action Committee: “My No. 1 priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.” And he returned to that theme often during the presidential race, describing the deal as “catastrophic,” among other things.

In a shift from that earlier threat to dismantle the deal, officials said the administration was working with U.S. allies to try to fix the deal’s flaws, including the expiration of some nuclear restrictions after a decade or more. The officials also said the U.S. would slap Tehran with new sanctions penalizing it for developing ballistic missiles and other activity.

Scuttling the deal would put further distance between Trump and foreign leaders who are already upset over his move to withdraw from the Paris global climate change accord.