American sanctions will make it hard to revive the Iranian nuclear deal

WHEN it has come to punishing recalcitrant foreign countries, President Donald Trump’s bark has sometimes been worse than his bite. A fierce announcement from the Oval Office of new import tariffs or impending fire and fury has been followed by a lull. Loopholes and exemptions have emerged. The threat on May 8th of the “highest level of economic sanction” on Iran, however, seems to mean exactly what it says.

Again, there is a breathing space, of three to six months, before stinging sanctions lifted two years ago are reinstated. These include cutting Iran off from dollar financing, imposing “significant” reductions on its hydrocarbon exports and banning American companies from doing any business there. Most believe Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, that after the “wind-down period” sanctions, both primary and secondary, “will come back into full effect”.

The threat of secondary sanctions resonates most in Europe. As Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister,...Continue reading

Source: Middle East and Africa https://ift.tt/2rwGfDS

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