The United States announces huge Iranian sanctions

After three years, Iran will be sanctioned again. This was announced by US Secretary of State Pompeo.

The US will introduce enormous sanctions on Iran on Monday. These are mainly directed at the oil and banking sectors. Third-country companies also involved in Iran's business.

The penalties in force on the seventh Monday at 6:00 pm were in force in previous years and were suspended by the 2015 agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced that he had a completely incomplete nuclear agreement in May and called for the restoration of earlier sanctions. Part of it has been valid since August.

Although the US government announced Friday the withdrawal of eight third countries, which is the case, but the US government was not initially known. They will not be named on Monday, as Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo said.

The Ankara government has already said that Turkey is one of those. The Washington observers considered that India, Japan and South Korea were also on the list of exemptions.

According to Pompeo, the companies of the eight exceptionally state companies can still import crude oil from Iran, but to a lesser extent than before. They have been exempted because they have proven that oil imports are being reduced to zero, "said the US Secretary of State. We are talking about tax exemptions, according to US data, that turbulence in oil markets is avoided.

Exclude Swift as a Goal

Measures against Iranian banks are claimed to be excluded from Swift, the international payment system. Swift – an alliance of financial institutions – should also be sanctioned if it does not end its relations with Iranian banks, said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

According to him, the list of Iranian institutions and individuals affected by sanctions is expanding considerably – altogether 700.

For several months, the European Union has been trying to override Iran's sanctions in some ways to prevent the damaging effects of Iranian businesses and persuade Tehran to stay in the nuclear business. For example, the EU is planning to set up a special purpose vehicle that carries out business with non-Tehran-based European companies, in addition to the usual dollar-dominated financial channels.

This can be useful especially for small and medium-sized businesses that do not have their own American business. However, in the case of large companies in the USA, sanctions continue to pose a serious threat. German companies, Siemens and Daimler have therefore stopped their business in Iran, as well as the French companies Total, Peugeot and Renault.

"Maximum Pressure"

The US government wants to "maximize" Tehran to make even greater concessions on Iran's nuclear program. Washington suspected Tehran of continuing the construction of the atomic bomb. Sanctions are also justified by the Iranian missile program and Iranian interventions in other countries of the region, including civil war in Syria and Yemen.

Pompeo said on Friday that punitive measures prevent Iran's leadership from "dying death and destruction worldwide". The goal is that Iran renounces "forbidden activities" and "behaves like a normal country".

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