The Trump administration on Monday plans to reimpose the first round of sanctions against Iran since the U.S. withdrew from its nuclear agreement with the country earlier this year.
Monday’s deadline marks the end of a 90-day “wind-down” period the administration provided to companies and individuals doing business with Iran after exiting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May. A second 180-day wind-down period is slated to end Nov. 4, when another round of previously relaxed sanctions will be reimposed on oil sales and Iran’s energy sector.
“Ninety days ago, the president took strong action to withdraw the U.S. from the JCPOA,” a senior administration official said Monday. “At that time, we were warned from experts… that the threat of unilateral sanctions from the U.S. would not be effective, but three months out we have a very different picture.”
When the first wind down period expires at midnight, transactions with U.S. dollar banknotes; trade in precious metals; and transactions related to the Iranian rial and sovereign debt will be subject to sanctions, according to senior administration officials.
“We are intent on cutting off the regime’s access to resources that they have systematically used to … sponsor terrorism [and] threaten others in the region,” one official said.
The official claimed that “company after company” has stopped investing in Iran since Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, proving “there’s no question these sanctions are working.”
At least two major European and American aircraft companies — Boeing and Airbus — are expected to forfeit $40 billion deals with Iran Air to avoid sanctions that will impact licenses for civil aviation.
The re-imposition of sanctions comes just one week after Trump extended an invitation to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to meet “anytime” without preconditions.
“They want to meet, I’ll meet. Anytime they want,” the president said at a White House press conference last Monday. “It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us, and good for the world.”
