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TOP STORIES
The Trump administration on Friday announced the
reimposition of all U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under
the 2015 nuclear deal, ramping up economic pressure on the Islamic
Republic as President Donald Trump completed the unraveling of what
had been one of his predecessor's signature foreign policy
achievements... One group that has been highly critical of the deal
welcomed the new sanctions but said there should be no exceptions.
"We encourage the Trump administration to fulfill the promise of
a maximum pressure campaign - no exceptions - until Iran permanently
and verifiably changes its behavior," United Against a Nuclear Iran
said in a statement. "Oil and gas firms, including those from
friendly countries like India, South Korea and Japan, should not be
granted sanctions waivers. Similarly, financial entities - including
SWIFT - must sever ties with Iranian banks and financial
institutions."
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it was
exempting eight countries from bruising sanctions that the United
States was reimposing against Iran, undercutting its pledge to
economically punish Tehran's regional aggressions while widening a
profound rift with European allies... "Whatever happened to
maximum pressure?" United Against Nuclear Iran, an anti-Iran
group led by former Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, wrote on Twitter in
response to the administration's waivers. "They caved. Big
time."
Military officials are expressing alarm that a shrinking
U.S. military presence in the Middle East has undermined their
ability to respond to Iranian threats just as the Trump
administration's imposition of oil sanctions increases the potential
for confrontation.
UANI IN THE NEWS
United Against Nuclear Iran, a group with close ties to
the Trump administration who have pushed for full sanctions
implementation, was muted in knocking the announcement: "We
encourage the Trump administration to fulfill the promise of a
maximum pressure campaign -- no exceptions -- until Iran permanently
and verifiably changes its behavior," chairman Joe Lieberman,
the former independent senator, and CEO Mark Wallace, former U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, said in a joint statement.
The new sanctions were welcomed by a group, United
Against a Nuclear Iran, which however criticised the exceptions made
by the administration. They said: "We encourage the Trump
administration to fulfil the promise of a maximum pressure campaign -
no exceptions - until Iran permanently and verifiably changes its
behaviour. Oil and gas firms, including those from friendly countries
like India, South Korea and Japan, should not be granted sanctions
waivers. Similarly, financial entities - including SWIFT - must sever
ties with Iranian banks and financial institutions."
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) issued a statement
welcoming the sanctions, but also encouraged a "full and
complete economic blockade."
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
President Trump on Friday evening reasserted his
openness to reaching a new Iran deal, days before the U.S. is set to
reimpose a final set of sanctions on Tehran.
It was predictable that the administration would go soft
on oil sanctions exemptions, but it can still make good on its
original hard line.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
European governments are locked in negotiations over a
special purpose vehicle to safeguard trade with Iran, as a US
crackdown on Tehran's oil and finance sectors came into force. Hours
before Monday's launch of a US squeeze on Iran's energy industry and
central bank, European diplomats said a planned special channel to
safeguard non-US trade with Iran would not be ready in time.
Iran greeted the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on
Monday with air defense drills and a statement from President Hassan
Rouhani that the nation faces a "war situation," raising
Mideast tensions as America's maximalist approach to the Islamic Republic
takes hold.
They might not be as terrifying as the White Walkers or
Khaleesi's dragons, but the Trump administration's new sanctions on
Iran were announced Friday with the help of a "Game of
Thrones"-inspired parody poster declaring: "SANCTIONS ARE
COMING."
Foreign and finance ministers from the European Union,
United Kingdom, France and Germany on Friday condemned the Trump
administration's plans to reimpose the last set of sanctions lifted
under the Iran nuclear deal early next week.
Iran's foreign minister called a number of EU leaders,
urging them to stand by Tehran as U.S. President Donald Trump levies
a raft of damaging sanctions against the country.
A major general in the Iranian army fired back at
President Trump's "Game of Thrones" inspired meme with one
of his own on Friday, vowing to stand against U.S. sanctions.
I would say to American companies, and any foreign
company that wants to do business in the United States. and I would
say particularly to their investors and to their independent
directors on their boards of directors, if you see your company
engaged in a transaction that has word Iran anywhere associated to
it, that ought to be like a fire bell in the night. not only will we
have the incredibly important civil enforcement the Treasury
Department Office of Foreign Asset Control, the Justice Department
criminal investigators are going to be all over this.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is defending the Trump
administration's reimposition of sanctions against Iran from
conservative critics who argue more should be done to isolate the
country.
The US will lead a maximum-pressure campaign to stop
global funds from flowing to the Iranian regime until it is no longer
a threat to international security. Our pressure campaign is designed
to bring the Iranian regime to the table to achieve a much better
deal than the JCPOA.
They're tougher than critics say, as long as they're
enforced.
Front companies, barter deals, oil transfers on the high
seas: These are just some of the methods that Iran could employ to
keep its economy limping on after American sanctions targeting the
country's oil industry went into effect at midnight on Monday.
As the United States reimposes severe economic sanctions
on Iran early Monday, President Trump is placing a series of bets
that he can not only change Iran's behavior, but also use American
economic power to bludgeon reluctant allies into joining him.
The Trump administration has finally faced up to what
many knew all along: It won't be able to take Iran's oil exports down
to zero. The U.S. is set to grant waivers to eight countries,
allowing them to continue to import some level of oil from Iran, on
the condition that they ratchet down their purchases in the months
ahead.
With Washington poised to curtail Iran's oil exports,
OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia and its partners stand ready to ramp up
supplies even as market conditions remain uncertain, analysts
say.
What happens now? Will these aggressive policies, which
start Monday, lead to greater conflict or cooperation with U.S.
sanctioning efforts?
When the United States levies sanctions against most
countries, it rarely announces them in advance. Except when it comes
to Iran.
Once a major customer, the U.S. hasn't bought oil from
Iran for more than 25 years. How, then, can it lead a global movement
to stop Iran from selling its chief export? The answer is simple:
"Do business in Iran or in the United States," State
Department official Brian Hook said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo predicted Sunday that the
remaining sanctions against Iran that resume Monday will change the
Tehran government's behavior in the region.
U.S. sanctions designed to push Iran's oil exports to
zero come into force at midnight, but the hard line initially
signaled by President Donald Trump is softening as the deadline
approaches.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iran's powerful Guardian Council on Sunday rejected a
bill on joining the UN convention against terrorist financing seen as
crucial to maintaining trade and banking ties with the world.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
The regime is once again targeting dissidents in Europe
and arresting dual nationals, giving Washington and the EU common
cause to sanction senior Iranian officials.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
As Iranians braced for the full restoration of economic
sanctions imposed Monday by the Trump administration, their
government signaled it would be open to talking to the United States
about a new arms nuclear accord if Washington changes its
"approach" to discussing the agreement it abandoned earlier
this year.
President Trump has put Iran on notice that the punishing
sanctions he plans to impose on Monday are just the opening salvo of
an ambitious strategy to compel Tehran to pull back from its
assertive posture in the Middle East or risk collapse.
With new U.S. sanctions on Iran set to take effect
Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boasted Sunday of the Trump
administration's efforts to be "tough on Iran." "No
one's going to argue that Secretary Pompeo isn't tough on Iran,"
Pompeo said on "Fox News Sunday." "And no one is going
to argue that President Trump isn't doing the same."
Iran's Supreme Leader says on the eve of the anniversary
of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran that the Islamic
Republic is the "victorious party" after nearly 40 years of
confrontation by the U.S.
Iran's top leader said on Saturday U.S. President Donald
Trump's policies face opposition across the world as Washington
prepared to reimpose sanctions on Iran's vital oil-exporting and
financial sectors, state television reported.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
State TV says Iran has inaugurated the production line
of its domestically produced fighter jet a day after the Trump
administration announced the reimposition of remaining U.S. sanctions
on Tehran to ramp up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Hezbollah escalated its position on the issue of
representing Sunni lawmakers not affiliated with the Future Movement
over the weekend, to the extent of ruling out the formation of a new
government without naming one of them as a minister.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
The United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign
affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Saturday that Iran's "aggressive
policies" were "largely responsible" for the
reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
IRAQ & IRAN
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has issued a rare rebuke of
its American ally, asserting that a U.S. Twitter posting concerning
neighboring Iran "goes beyond diplomatic norms" and
represents an "interference" in Iraq's internal affairs. In
a Twitter posting on October 30, still on its account, the U.S. State
Department told Iran it must "permit the disarming,
demobilization, and reintegration of Shi'a militias" operating
in Iraq.
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