US President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sanctions onIran’s iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors amid escalating tensionsbetween Washington and Tehran.
The White House said those industries account for 10 percent of Iranian exports, the Efe news reported.
“Today, I am signing an executive order to imposesanctions with respect to Iran’s iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors, theregime’s largest non-petroleum-related sources of export revenue,” Trumpsaid in a statement.
“Today’s action targets Iran’s revenue from the exportof industrial metals – 10 percent of its export economy – and puts othernations on notice that allowing Iranian steel and other metals into your portswill no longer be tolerated,” he added.
Trump, who indicated a willingness to meet with Iranianauthorities, said in the executive order that Tehran could use proceeds fromthe sale of metals to “provide funding and support for the proliferationof weapons of mass destruction, terrorist groups and networks, campaigns ofregional aggression and military expansion.”
He also recalled that the US is determined to “denyIran all paths to both a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballisticmissiles.”
The new sanctions come hours after the Iranian governmentannounced that it is suspending some of its commitments under the landmark 2015nuclear deal.
Iran, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germanyremain parties to the pact, which the US abandoned in May 2018.
In his statement, Trump defended the decision he made oneyear ago.
“Under the Iran nuclear deal, Iran was free to engagein and sponsor terrorist networks, develop its missile force (and) fomentregional conflicts … all while maintaining a robust nuclearinfrastructure.”
A year later, “the Iranian regime is struggling to fundits campaign of violent terror, as its economy heads into an unprecedenteddepression,” Trump said.
The US is “successfully imposing the most powerfulmaximum pressure campaign ever witnessed, which today’s action will furtherstrengthen.”
Trump also warned that Iran “can expect further actionsunless it fundamentally alters its conduct,” recalling that the US has”put forward 12 conditions that offer the basis of a comprehensiveagreement” with the Islamic Republic.
“I look forward to someday meeting with the leaders ofIran in order to work out an agreement and, very importantly, taking steps togive Iran the future it deserves,” the statement said.
Tensions between the US and Iran have grown since April,when Washington opted to further squeeze Tehran by ending sanctions waiversgranted to eight countries that import Iranian oil.
On Sunday, the White House said it was deploying an aircraftcarrier and bomber task force to the Middle East in response to what thePentagon described the following day as “indications of heightened Iranianreadiness to conduct offensive operations against the US forces and ourinterests.”