U.S. Extends Iran Sanctions Relief With More Sanctions
U.S. Extends Iran Sanctions Relief With More Sanctions

WASHINGTON  – The U.S. has extended sanctions relief to Iran under the countries’ nuclear deal, but repeated accusations that Tehran is violating the spirit of the agreement. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to tear up the 2015 accord, said Iran had “violated so many different elements” of the deal, under which the U.S. agreed […]

WASHINGTON  – The U.S. has extended sanctions relief to Iran under the countries’ nuclear deal, but repeated accusations that Tehran is violating the spirit of the agreement.

President Donald Trump, who has threatened to tear up the 2015 accord, said Iran had “violated so many different elements” of the deal, under which the U.S. agreed to waive numerous sanctions on the Islamic republic. The waiver has to be renewed every 120 days.

“We are not going to stand for what they are doing,” Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “You’ll see what we’ll be doing in October.”

The president has until October 15 to certify to Congress whether Iran is in compliance with the accord — a separate decision that is made every three months.

The U.S. maintains separate sanctions against Iran related its ballistic missile program and allegations that Tehran sponsors terrorism in the region. On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury imposed new restrictions on 11 people and entities for supporting Iranian actions, including cyber attacks against U.S. financial institutions.

“Treasury will continue to take strong actions to counter Iran’s provocations,” Steven Mnuchin, Treasury secretary, said in a statement.

Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, said the administration had not made a decision on whether Iran was complying with the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But speaking in London on Thursday, he said Iran’s development of its ballistic missile program and its support for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad went against the spirit of the deal.

“In our view, Iran is clearly in default of these expectations of the JCPOA,” Mr Tillerson said at a press briefing alongside Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary. The country’s actions were “threatening the security of those in the region as well as the United States itself”, he said.

However, Mr Johnson said the deal appeared to be working. “We in the UK want to keep that alive, and that’s certainly a point that we’ve been making to Rex and others in the administration,” Mr Johnson said.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions Thursday against 11 entities and people for supporting Iranian activity the Trump administration considers hostile, including cyber-attacks against U.S. financial institutions.

“Treasury will continue to take strong actions to counter Iran’s provocations, including support for the IRGC-Qods Force and terrorist extremists, the ongoing campaign of violence in Syria, and cyber-attacks meant to destabilize the U.S. financial system,” Mnuchin said in a statement.

The sanctions target Sadid Caran Saba Engineering, an Iranian company also known as SABA, for providing support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ ballistic missile program and Ukrainian-based Khors Aircompany and Dart Airlines for helping Iran’s Caspian Air and Iraq’s Al-Naser Airlines procure U.S.-origin aircraft, according to the Treasury statement.

The Iranian computer security company ITSec Team and three associated Iranian nationals were sanctioned for roles in denial-of-service attacks against at least nine large U.S. financial institutions, including top banks and stock exchanges, according to the statement.

Mersad Co., a private computer security company based in Iran, was sanctioned along with four associated Iranian nationals for “causing a significant disruption to the availability of a computer or network of computers,” according to the statement.

The Treasury action freezes any assets the people and companies hold in the U.S. and bars U.S. citizens and residents and U.S. companies from doing business with them. Foreign financial institutions that do business with them risk losing access to the U.S. financial system, according to the Treasury statement.