U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he is open to a new comprehensive deal with Iran, saying that till then the toughest-ever sanctions on the West Asian country that kick off on Monday would continue.
“The U.S. remains open to reaching a new, more comprehensive deal with Iran that forever blocks its path to a nuclear weapon, addresses the entire range of its malign actions, and is worthy of the Iranian people,” Mr. Trump said in a presidential statement late on Friday night.
“Until then, our historic sanctions will remain in full force,” he said, hours after his two Cabinet members, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, announced that the U.S. would reimpose a series of crippling sanctions on Iran beginning on Monday.
Iran reached an agreement with the six world powers including the U.S. and the EU in 2015, which curtailed its nuclear programme in return for lifting of the international economic sanctions. In May, Mr. Trump announced the U.S.’s withdrawal from what he described as “the horrible, one-sided” nuclear deal.
In his statement, Mr. Trump called on the regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions, change its “destructive behaviour”, respect the rights of its people, and return in good faith to the negotiating table.
“On Monday, November 5, the termination of U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal will be complete. The last set of sanctions lifted under the terrible nuclear deal will come back into force, including powerful sanctions on Iran’s energy, shipping, and shipbuilding sectors, and sanctions targeting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran and sanctioned Iranian banks,” the President said.
Maximum pressure
“Our objective is to force the regime into a clear choice: either abandon its destructive behaviour or continue down the path toward economic disaster.”
Later, a senior State Department official told reporters that that the U.S. was ready for talks with Iran.
“Secretary Pompeo has been very clear that we have an ear open to what is possible. We very much want to begin work on a new and better deal to replace the insufficient Iran nuclear deal and our campaign of maximum economic pressure is a critical tactic to achieve that goal,” Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said.
