U.S. set to reimpose old sanctions on Iran

Billions in relief had been provided in 2015 nuclear deal.

All of the punishments that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal will be restored Monday; critics object to move.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday announced the reimposition of all U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, ramping up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic as President Donald Trump completed the unraveling of what had been one of his predecessor’s signature foreign policy achievements.

The sanctions, which will take effect on Monday, cover Iran’s shipping, financial and energy sectors and are the second batch the administration has reimposed since Trump withdrew from the landmark accord in May. The rollback ends U.S. participation in the nuclear deal, which now hangs in the bal- ance as Iran no longer enjoys any relief from sanctions imposed by the world’s larg- est economy.

Shortly after the announce- ment, Trump tweeted what looks like a movie poster image of himself walking that takes creative inspiration from the TV series “Game of Thrones” to announce the reimposition of sanctions. It, says “Sanctions are Coming, November 5.”

The 2015 deal, one of former President Barack O bama’s biggest diplomatic successes, gave Iran billions of dollars in sanc- tions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, which many believed it was using to develop atomic weapons. Trump repeatedly denounced the agreement as the “worst ever” negotiated by the United States and vowed to withdraw from it during the 2016 presiden- tial campaign.

Trump and other critics of the deal said it gave Iran too much in return for too little, allowed Iran to gradually resume nuclear activity that could eventually be used for weapons develop- ment and did not address any of the country’s other problematic activities.

Obama-era officials as well as the other parties to the deal — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union — have vehemently defended it. The Europeans have mounted a drive to save the agree- ment from the U.S. with- drawal, fearing that the new sanctions will drive Iran to pull out and resume all of its nuclear work.

The foreign and finance ministers of Britain, France, Germany and the top EU diplomat blasted the restoration of sanctions, saying that Iran is complying with the deal and that they were working on ways to mitigate the impact of the U.S. move.

“We deeply regret the fur- ther re-imposition of sanc- tions by the United States,” they said in a joint statement. “As parties to the (deal), we have committed to work on the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”

With limited exceptions, the reimposed U.S. sanctions will hit Iran as well as countries that do not stop importing Iranian oil and foreign firms that do business with blacklisted Iranian entities, including its central bank, a number of private financial institutions, and state-run port and shipping firms, as wellas hundreds of individual Iranian officials.

“Our ultimate aim is to compel Iran to permanently abandon its well-documented outlaw activities and behave as a normal country,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in a conference call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Maximum pressure means maximum pressure.”

Pompeo said eight nations will receive temporary waivers allowing them to continue to import Iranian petroleum products for a limited period as they move to end such imports entirely. He said those countries, which other officials said would include U.S. allies such as Turkey, Italy, India, Japan and South Korea, had made efforts to eliminate their imports but could not complete the task by Monday.

The waivers, expected to be announced Monday, will be valid for six months, during which time the importing country can buy Iranian oil but must deposit Iran’s revenue in an escrow account.

Iran can spend the money but only on a narrow range of humanitarian items.