President Donald Trump will expand sanction relief for Iran this week, while targeting only a few Iranian businesses and persons with new sanctions under the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, according to the Associated Press.
Trump reportedly believes progress made in amending the Iranian deal at the congressional level justifies the decision. The president must also decide by Friday whether to extend the deal or slap sanctions back on Iran’s central bank, a move that would have noticeable economic impact on the Middle Eastern nation.
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At least six people familiar with the upcoming White House decision spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity. The officials cautioned that no final decision has been made. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, repeated to LifeZette Wednesday that a final decision is still pending.
But the tentative approach is backed by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, according to AP.
The decision would be a big change for Trump, at least for now, because he frequently bashed the Iran deal that former President Barack Obama forged two years ago. In that decision, Obama joined with several other nations in suspending long-standing economic restrictions and sanctions placed upon Iran.
Obama administration officials contend the deal effectively tames Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. From time to time, the White House must reauthorize the sanctions relief.
Trump and other hard-liners believe the deal has significant weaknesses, especially on missile construction.
Iran agreed to the deal, which reportedly put the country 12 months behind the possibility of successfully constructing an atomic bomb. Sanctions remained in place on missiles and providing support to individuals or groups connected with terrorism, according to a January 2016 statement by Obama.
But Trump and other hard-liners believe the deal has significant weaknesses, especially on missile construction. Trump also attacked the deal for shipping $400 million in currencies representing assets frozen by this country in the wake of the 1980 crisis, in which Muslim extremists took over the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 U.S. nationals hostage for more than 400 days. They were released the day President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in 1981.
Iran has about $100 billion in frozen assets worldwide — and is hoping to regain all of it.
PoliZette White House writer Jim Stinson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.
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