“US President-elect Donald Trump plans to significantly tighten sanctions against Iran and cut its oil revenue in order to undermine Tehran’s support for Middle Eastern groups and its nuclear program.”, — write: www.epravda.com.ua
US President-elect Donald Trump plans to significantly tighten sanctions against Iran and cut its oil revenue in order to undermine Tehran’s support for Middle Eastern groups and its nuclear program.
This was reported by people familiar with his previous plans, writes The Wall Street Journal.
In his first term, Trump was critical of Iran, withdrawing from the six-party agreement with Tehran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was intended to limit Iran’s nuclear development.
He has also implemented a so-called “maximum pressure” strategy, hoping that Iran will abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, stop funding and training groups the US considers terrorist, and improve the country’s human rights record.
However, when Trump takes office on January 20, his approach to Iran is likely to take into account reports that Iranian agents tried to assassinate him and his former top national security officials after their terms ended. Iran is reportedly seeking revenge for a 2020 US airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s covert paramilitary operations.
“People tend to take these things personally,” said Mick Mulroy, the Pentagon’s top Middle East official in the first Trump administration. “If he’s going to get tough on any country that’s seen as a major adversary, it’s going to be Iran.”
Those familiar with Trump’s plans and in contact with his top advisers said the new team would move quickly to cut Iran’s oil revenues, including imposing sanctions on foreign ports and traders dealing in Iranian oil. It would replicate a strategy the former president used in his first term, albeit with mixed results.
“I think you’re going to see the return of sanctions and a strong diplomatic and financial effort to isolate Iran,” said a former White House official. “Iran is believed to be in a weak position right now, and this is an opportunity to take advantage of that weakness.”
Officials familiar with Trump’s plans did not provide details on how exactly the pressure on Iran would be increased.
We will remind:
In August 2018, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order reimposing sanctions against Iran.
Already in January 2020, Donald Trump announced that his administration would introduce new sanctions against Iran in response to its destabilizing behavior.
January 9, 2020, that the United States has increased sanctions against Iran after a missile attack on bases in Iraq where American military personnel are stationed.
The Biden administration deliberately implemented softer energy sanctions against Russia, Iran and Venezuela to keep fuel prices down before the election.