The United States will not hesitate to enforce sanctions on countries doing business with Iran despite deep concern among allies in Europe, a State Department official said Monday.
Waivers for the allies could undermine the Trump administration’s aim of curbing Tehran’s malign activities in the Middle East, said Brian Hook, the department’s director of policy planning.
However, countries that are making an effort to reduce Iranian imports such as oil could be considered on a “case-by-case” basis and diplomatic talks are now focused on France, Germany and other European Union countries, Hook said during a news conference.
“We will not hesitate to take action when we see sanctionable activity and that is consistent with our policy of economic and diplomatic isolation of Iran,” he said.
President Trump indicated over the weekend that he would not exclude European allies from the sanctions on Iran that are set to snap back beginning next month following his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The first set of sanctions on gold, energy and Iran’s central bank will return at the beginning of August and sanctions on oil and foreign financial transactions in November.
Hook said a goal of the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign is to get Iran’s oil exports to zero, which could put pressure on nations such as Turkey and India.
“We are not looking to grant licenses and waivers because doing so would substantially reduce pressure on Iran and this is a campaign of pressure,” Hook said. “We are prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis.”
Longtime allies France, Germany, and the U.K., all attempted to dissuade Trump from backing out of the nuclear deal and are now in talks with the U.S. in the hope that it will provide waivers for its activities with Iran.
Those countries and Iran could remain in the deal, which aims to keep Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but the effort could crumble under new sanctions pressure from the U.S.
