Donald Trump claims US sanctions will hit Iran in a 'big way'; Tehran says president has 'disgraced' America's prestige

US president Donald Trump has said that the US sanctions will hit Iran in a “big way” from 5 November, asserting that the “toughest-ever” punitive measures have been put in place for a “corrupt regime” in Tehran.

Speaking with the reporters at the White House on Friday before leaving on a campaign trail, Trump said Iran was not the same country which it was when he started almost two years ago. “Iran is a much different country since I terminated that deal. That was one of the most ridiculous deals ever made by any country, at any time: the Iran nuclear deal,” he said. “They’re very serious sanctions. They’re very big. They’ll be elevated from there. But, as you know, sanctions are starting on Iran and, Iran is taking a very big hit,” he said.

In May, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) terming it as disastrous". Under the Obama-era deal, involving five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, Iran agreed to stop its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. After the US’ withdrawal from the deal, Trump signed fresh sanctions against Iran and warned countries against any cooperation with Tehran over its controversial nuclear weapons programme.

Iran has dismissed these charges and maintains that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. “And just today, we riposted all sanctions that were lifted under that horrible deal. We now have in place the toughest ever sanctions on a corrupt regime in Iran,” Trump told his supporters at an election rally in West Virginia.

Earlier in an interview with the Sean Hannity Show, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged that Iran was the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. “We’re trying to change the ayatollah and Qasem Soleimani’s behaviour to keep the American people safe and secure. That’s the mission, these sanctions are a part of our effort, and they’re already being felt by the Iranian leadership,” he said.

On Monday, 5 November, the US will not only be re-imposing the sanctions that were in place before the crazy Iranian nuclear deal was entered into, but there’ll be over several hundred designations, Pompeo said. “We will ultimately move Iran to zero crude oil. That’ll take us some number of months to do that. We’ve been able to do that in a way that hasn’t had a huge impact on crude oil prices. That’s a good thing for American consumers,” Pompeo said.

However, the US is expected to give a short-term waiver to eight countries which could include India because of its commitment to significantly reduces the import of oil from Iran. The waiver would be granted for six months period and then would be re-evaluated by the United States, Special US Representative on Iran, Brian Hook told reporters. These eight countries are among the top 20 oil importers from Iran, he told reporters. “Our goal remains getting countries to zero imports of Iranian oil. In 2019, our projections are that oil supply will exceed demand, and that creates a much better atmosphere for us to bring remaining nations to zero as quickly as possible,” Hook said.

“Unlike in prior administrations, we will ensure that the money is not spent on illicit activities, that there isn’t any leakage in these escrow accounts, and we will work closely with countries to encourage the sale and purchase of humanitarian goods to benefit the Iranian people. “Our sanctions regime has very clear exceptions for the sale of food, medicine, and medical devices,” he said.

“The United States 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,” Trump said in the presidential statement. “Until then, our historic sanctions will remain in full force,” he said. In his presidential statement, 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.

It was in May, that Trump had announced that the US had withdrawn from what he described as “the horrible, one-sided” Iran nuclear deal. “On Monday, 5 November, the termination of United States 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. “Our objective is to force the regime into a clear choice: either abandon its destructive behaviour or continue down the path toward economic disaster,” he added.

Later a senior State Department official told reporters that the US 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 that the president left in May, and our campaign of maximum economic pressure is a critical tactic to achieve that goal,” Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that President Donald Trump has “disgraced” US prestige and would be the ultimate loser from renewing sanctions on the Islamic republic. “This new US president… has disgraced the remnant of America’s prestige and that of liberal democracy. America’s hard power, that is to say, their economic and military power, is declining too,” he said on his Persian Twitter account, quoting a speech in Tehran. A defiant Khamenei dismissed the renewed US sanctions — including an oil embargo — that take effect on Monday. “The challenge between the US and Iran has lasted for 40 years so far and the US has made various efforts against us: military, economic and media warfare,” he said.

“There’s a key fact here: in this 40-year challenge, the defeated is the US and the victorious is the Islamic republic,” Trump announced in May he was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions, sparking outrage among world powers who say Iran has been complying with commitments to restrict its atomic programme. Washington says it wants a new deal with Iran, curtailing its regional interventions and missile programme — demands which have been flatly rejected by Tehran.

“America’s goal in taking all these measures has been to regain the domination it had” prior to Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the pro-Western shah, Khamenei said. The renewed sanctions are designed “to paralyse the (Iran’s) economy and keep it backwards. However, it has resulted in encouraging a movement towards self-sufficiency in the country,” Khamenei added.

“Our youth, across the country, support independence. Some may not be so religious but they are sensitive towards domination by foreigners.” On Friday, the US said it would add 700 individuals and entities to its Iran blacklist and push the SWIFT global banking network to cut off Tehran as Washington applies “maximum pressure” to cripple the country’s economy.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said eight countries — believed to include India, Japan and possibly China — would be given waivers to continue importing Iranian oil in order to avoid upsetting the global crude market, but only on condition, they slow their purchases. The reimposition of sanctions “is aimed at depriving the regime of the revenues it uses to spread death and destruction around the world”, Pompeo said.

“Our ultimate aim is to compel Iran to permanently abandon its well-documented outlaw activities and behave like a normal country.” Britain, France, Germany and the European Union strongly condemned the latest actions from Washington in a joint statement, and have vowed to preserve the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “The JCPOA is a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture and of multilateral diplomacy,” they said. “It is crucial for the security of Europe, the region, and the entire world. The JCPOA is working and delivering on its goal.” The US wants Iran to withdraw from war-ravaged Syria, where the Shiite clerical regime is a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, and end longstanding support to regional militant movements Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

With inputs from PTI