Aides to President-elect Donald Trump have reportedly reached out to Republican lawmakers to discuss the possibility of levying additional sanctions on Iran that would be unrelated to country’s nuclear program.
“They are already looking closely at their options – and that includes non-nuclear sanctions,” a congressional staffer who has been in contact with Trump’s team told The Financial Times on Friday.
Transition officials are said to be weighing sanctions that would target Iran’s ballistic missile program or its human rights abuses, neither of which would interfere with the Iran nuclear agreement between the U.S., Iran and other world powers, often described by Trump as the “worst deal ever negotiated.”
Trump has promised his supporters that he might terminate the Iranian nuclear deal or renegotiate it, but he’s also said he could decide to push for real enforcement of all its provisions in order to pressure Iran. In the meantime, however, his transition team feels new sanctions could allow the president-elect to put pressure on Tehran to reduce its support for terrorism.
Yleem Poblete, the former chief of staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is facilitating discussions between Trump’s team and Republicans on Capitol Hill about non-nuclear sanctions on Iran. Poblete spent nearly two decades on the Hill, during which she was involved in several sanction bills related to Iran, Syria and North Korea.
The Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to extend existing sanctions on Iran for another decade — legislation that President Obama is expected to sign despite refusing to endorse a renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act before its expiration at the end of the year.
