US to fully enforce Iran sactions reimposed this week
Source: US to fully enforce Iran sactions reimposed this week
The United States intends to fully enforce sanctions due to be reimposed against Iran early this week on orders from US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
A first set of US sanctions that had been eased by the Obama administration under the terms of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal will take effect again on Monday. Those sanctions target Iran’s automotive sector as well as gold and other metals.The US also has banned imports of Iranian products such as carpets and pistachios and revoked licenses that allowed Iran to purchase US and European aircraft. Iran acquired five new European commercial planes on Sunday before the sales were cut off.
The last and most significant sanctions—those on Iran’s oil sector and central bank—will be restored on Nov. 4. Iranian oil sales are a crucial source of hard currency.
Pompeo, speaking with reporters returning with him from an Asian trip, said the White House would detail implementation of the measures on Monday morning.
Pompeo said the United States wants “the Iranian people to have a strong voice of who their leadership will be,” although he stopped short of calling for regime change in Tehran.
He later said in a message on Twitter that the United States was “deeply concerned about reports of Iranian regime’s violence against unarmed citizens” and urged respect for human rights.
Protests broke out on Sunday for a sixth night in Iranian cities, including Kazeroon in the south, according to social media. Authorities reported the first fatality among protesters, with the shooting of a man in Karaj, west of Tehran. But they denied security forces were involved, Iranian news agencies reported.
He alluded to Trump’s suggestion last week of the potential for future negotiations with Tehran, a notion that senior Iranian officials quickly rejected.”We are happy to talk if there’s an arrangement that is appropriate, that could lead to a good outcome,” he said.
Pompeo noted that the US has long designated Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism and said it cannot expect to be treated as an equal in the international community until it halts such activities.
“Perhaps that will be the path the Iranians choose to go down,” he said. “But there’s no evidence today of a change in their behavior.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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