President Donald Trump has once again approved the waiver of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran which were first lifted under the 2015 Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.The same day, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new non-nuclear sanctions targeting 14 individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran, and with support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators.
In a statement, President Donald Trump said he approved waiving the nuclear sanctions “only to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal. This,” he declared, “is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.”
President Trump also wrote that he is open to work with Congress on changes to a U.S. law that governs U.S. participation in the deal. Those changes, he emphasized, would need to include four critical components: that Iran would allow necessary inspections at all locations requested by international inspectors; that Iran never comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon; that the provisions of the modified law have no expiration date; and that Iran’s development and testing of missiles be subject to severe sanctions.
President Trump reiterated his belief that the Iran deal “gave Iran far too much in exchange for too little.”
President Trump called on European allies “to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the [Iran nuclear] deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people.
