Sanctions placed on Iran by US

WASHINGTON — The United States reimposed sanctions against Iran at midnight Monday, restoring economic penalties that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord and ratcheting up pressure on Tehran while worsening divides with European allies and other world powers.

The sanctions are a consequence of President Donald Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from an international deal that sought to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing pressure on the country’s shaky economy. His administration is betting that backing out of it will force Iran to shut down its nuclear enrichment efforts, curb its weapons program and end its support of brutal governments or uprisings in the Middle East.

In a statement, Trump again described the nuclear deal — by which other world powers are still abiding — as “horrible, one sided.” He said the Iranian government “faces a choice: Either change its threatening, destabilizing behavior and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation.”

Faced with a choice between the tiny Iranian market, which never lived up to expectations, and the huge U.S. market, major European companies overwhelmingly indicated they would observe the sanctions.

The new sanctions bar any transactions with Iran involving dollar bank notes, gold, precious metals, aluminum, steel, commercial passenger aircraft and coal, and they end imports into the United States of Iranian carpets and foodstuffs.

In a conference call with reporters Monday, senior administration officials said they want a change in behavior from Tehran but were not demanding a change in government. They noted that the threat of new sanctions had already had an effect on the Iranian economy.