WSJ: Trump wants tougher sanctions on Iran to stop violence in Middle East

Author:
Iryna Perepechko
Date:

The US President-elect Donald Trump plans to sharply tighten sanctions against Iran and limit the sale of Iranian oil to stop Iranian-backed violence in the Middle East.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with reference to sources.

It is also said that in this way the USA Trump wants to stop Iranʼs nuclear program.

The new Republican team will move quickly to use sanctions to try to shut off Iranʼs oil revenues, including targeting foreign ports and traders that process Iranian oil.

"I think thereʼs a perception that Iran is definitely weak right now, and now thereʼs an opportunity to exploit that weakness," the White House spokesman said.

Former US energy official Robert McNally said the Trump administration could ban Chinese ports receiving Iranian oil and impose sanctions on Iraqi officials who fund Iran-backed militias.

At the same time, Brian Hook, who was in charge of Iran policy at the US State Department during Trumpʼs first term, emphasized that the newly elected president is "not interested" in trying to topple Iranʼs leadership.

In an interview with CNN, he noted that Trump promised to "isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken it economically so that it cannot finance all the violence" committed by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Yemeni Houthis.

Iranʼs reaction

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the results of the US elections are of no importance to his country, as it relies only on its own "internal strength".

Meanwhile, Iranian officials are divided over whether Iran can withstand additional economic pressure. According to one of the representatives of the Iranian oil industry, "the situation can become catastrophic."

An Iranian diplomat assures that the country will withstand the US sanctions, as it will deepen its partnership with the Asia-oriented Shanghai Organization and other alliances. According to him, Iran could also strengthen its nuclear program or threaten oil facilities in the Middle East.

Despite Trumpʼs longstanding standoff with Iran, some members of his team speculate that he may sign a diplomatic deal between the U.S. and Iran.

What preceded

The nuclear agreement with Iran was signed in 2015 by the United States, Great Britain, Russia, France, China, Germany and the EU. They agreed that the Iranian government would give up its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

In 2018, then US President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the deal on Iranʼs nuclear program and imposed new sanctions against the Iranian regime.

After that, the Biden administration engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

These efforts collapsed in late 2022 when the US accused Iran of making "unfounded" demands related to an International Atomic Energy Agency investigation into puzzling traces of uranium found at undisclosed Iranian facilities. In the months that followed, the administration maintained that the Iran nuclear deal was "not on the agenda."

The new president of Iran suggested that they are open to interaction with the West. However, a senior State Department official told CNN that they no longer believe they can return to the nuclear deal because Iran has taken too many escalating actions in the years since the talks broke down.

In July of this year, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Iran could probably produce enough material to create a nuclear weapon in one to two weeks. He noted that the US policy is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and that the administration would prefer to use diplomacy to stop that.

In September, Politico reported: Trump said he was open to a new nuclear deal with Iran. At the time, the newspaper noted that Trump was trying to ease tensions with the Iranian government with his statements — a week before, the Republican was informed that Iran was planning to kill him.

Trump did not go into the details of future cooperation with Iran, but noted that negotiations are necessary in any case — because of the threat posed by Iran with its desire to have nuclear weapons.

Iranʼs Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the country is open to discussing nuclear negotiations. At the same time, he noted that tensions in the Middle East may complicate their recovery.

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