The Trump administration on Friday reimposed the crippling US sanctions on Iran lifted under the Obama nuclear deal — fully breaking with the fantasy that…
The Trump administration on Friday reimposed the crippling US sanctions on Iran lifted under the Obama nuclear deal — fully breaking with the fantasy that rogue nations can be appeased or bribed into changing their criminal behavior.
The sanctions, which take full effect Monday, are aimed at Tehran’s oil industry — which accounts for 80 percent of its tax revenue — and banking system.
The aim, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is simple: to “compel Iran to permanently abandon its well-documented outlaw behavior and behave as a normal country.”
Unlike the Obama administration, which limited its concern solely to Iran’s nuclear activity, Team Trump has presented a list of 12 demands, including an end to state support of terrorism and involvement in Syria, as well as a complete halt to its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs.
Under the sanctions, all purchases of Iranian oil are prohibited. The sole exception: eight countries that have been granted six-month waivers to complete their ongoing efforts to eliminate their Iran oil imports.
One area of concern: Team Trump didn’t go with the hawks who wanted it to apply to bar all Iranian entities from the SWIFT global banking system.
But even as it allows some banks to remain connected, the Treasury Department is placing serious limitations: Iranian money that passes through the system can only go to special offshore accounts and be used for “real humanitarian transactions,” such as food, medicine and agricultural commodities.
Any violations would not only subject the banks to an immediate cutoff, but SWIFT itself would face possible sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said.
Obama’s billion-dollar carrot certainly didn’t alter Iran’s behavior. So Trump is now applying a long-overdue stick.
