Second round of U.S. sanctions on Iran takes effect Monday
- 5 years ago
Iran is bracing for a second round of U.S. sanctions which will take effect on Monday.
They are being described as the most stringent set of punitive measures since Washington withdrew from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal.
For more on this and other news around the world we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram…tell us more…
Well Mark… the sanctions are mostly aimed at financial and shipping sectors, but the most significant measures prohibit purchases of Iranian oil, which provides 80 percent of Tehran's tax revenue.
All countries and businesses that buy oil from Iran risk secondary sanctions from the United States, and the administration has vowed to pursue offenders aggressively.
But eight countries will be able to continue importing Iranian oil for a limited time at lower levels in order to avoid upsetting global crude markets.
Washington has not named the countries, but Turkey has revealed it is one of them and South Korea, China and Japan are also thought to be on the waiver list.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said they tried to pull all Iranian imports, but were unable to do so by Monday's deadline.
He added that he would not rule out the Trump administration extending the waivers beyond six months.
The sanctions are also aimed at cutting off Iran's banking sector from the global market.
However, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had said Iran will still be able to maintain limited access to the international financial transaction system, commonly known as SWIFT, but only for humanitarian purposes.
Tehran has remained defiant, saying it can deal with the impacts of sanctions, but Iranian citizens are anxious of the country's fluctuating currency and rising prices of goods.
Thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran on Sunday to protest against the sanctions, with the crowd chanting "death to America."
The government-organized rallies coincided with the 39th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and was broadcast live on state TV.
They are being described as the most stringent set of punitive measures since Washington withdrew from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal.
For more on this and other news around the world we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram…tell us more…
Well Mark… the sanctions are mostly aimed at financial and shipping sectors, but the most significant measures prohibit purchases of Iranian oil, which provides 80 percent of Tehran's tax revenue.
All countries and businesses that buy oil from Iran risk secondary sanctions from the United States, and the administration has vowed to pursue offenders aggressively.
But eight countries will be able to continue importing Iranian oil for a limited time at lower levels in order to avoid upsetting global crude markets.
Washington has not named the countries, but Turkey has revealed it is one of them and South Korea, China and Japan are also thought to be on the waiver list.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said they tried to pull all Iranian imports, but were unable to do so by Monday's deadline.
He added that he would not rule out the Trump administration extending the waivers beyond six months.
The sanctions are also aimed at cutting off Iran's banking sector from the global market.
However, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had said Iran will still be able to maintain limited access to the international financial transaction system, commonly known as SWIFT, but only for humanitarian purposes.
Tehran has remained defiant, saying it can deal with the impacts of sanctions, but Iranian citizens are anxious of the country's fluctuating currency and rising prices of goods.
Thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran on Sunday to protest against the sanctions, with the crowd chanting "death to America."
The government-organized rallies coincided with the 39th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and was broadcast live on state TV.