Months after the USA’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, President Donald Trump has reimposed sanctions on Iran
Calling to action President Donald Trump’s threats, the USA has re-imposed sanctions on Iran. These oil and financial sanctions are to intensify the pressure on Tehran to curb its alleged missile and nuclear programme.
In 2015, the then USA President Barack Obama took the historic decision of lifting sanctions on Iran after both countries signed the Iran-USA nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As per the deal, Iran would curb its nuclear programme in return for international relief on sanctions. Following the deal, in July 2015, the European Union, the UK, the USA, France, Germany, Russia and China agreed to lift sanctions and enabled Iran to access the global economy. These countries, apart from the USA, continue to be party to the nuclear deal signed in 2015.
The move comes after months of public sparring between the USA President Donald Trump and the Supreme Leader of Iran Hassan Rouhani. USA President has said that the “Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos across the Middle East. That is why we must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions. They have not lived up to the spirit of their agreement”. In January this year, President Trump said that he was open to a new deal with Iran, provided that the previous deal’s “disastrous flaws” were fixed. The USA has also sought to pressurise countries trading with Iran, such as India, to abandon Iran’s crude oil supply. Iran is the third-biggest exporter of crude oil within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq. But the sanctions could yet again lead to a sharp fall in its oil production and the overall economy.
