Washington restores tough, unilateral Iran sanctions lifted under nuclear deal

The United States re-imposed tough, unilateral sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, bringing back into effect tough penalties that had been lifted under a historic, multi-party nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump abandoned in May.

The first of two rounds of US sanctions kicked in at 12:01 am (0431 GMT), targeting Iran's access to US banknotes and key industries including cars and carpets.

The aim of US sanctions on Iran is to change the behavior of the Iranian regime, not the regime itself, the officials added. He said that the sanctions will be “fully enforced” in an “aggressive manner”, including countries and companies dealing with Iran.

“We’ve seen company after company announce that they are getting out of Iran,” the officials said. “This pressure is already working.”

US officials said that more than 100 international firms have already agreed to leave the Iranian market.

They said that Americans stand with the Iranian people in their demands in recent protests, mainly against how the Iranian regime is taking money from the country to fund militias and wars abroad.

The snapback sanctions are meant to target Iran’s purchases of US dollars, metals trading and other dealings, coal, industrial-related software and its auto sector.

"There is no question that these financial sanctions are going to continue to bring significant financial pressure," one official told reporters on a conference call.

The United States also plans to re-introduce potentially more damaging sanctions on Iranian oil in November.

Asked about any possible exemptions to the renewed sanctions, officials said they would examine any requests on a case-by-case basis.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Monday he remains open to forging a new nuclear deal with Iran, as he confirmed Washington will go ahead with re-imposing sanctions against Tehran.

“I remain open to reaching a more comprehensive deal that addresses the full range of the regime’s malign activities, including its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism,” Trump said in a statement.