- US officials said they were determined to force Tehran to give up its nuclear activities.
US officials said they were determined to force Tehran to give up its nuclear activities and what the US says is broad support for "terrorism" in the region, reimposing severe economic penalties six months after President Donald Trump's administration quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.There will also be sanctions to cut off Tehran's ability to export oil, the country's most crucial foreign exchange earner, though United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said eight importers would be given exemptions in exchange for slowing their purchases - a bid to avoid upsetting the global crude market.
The reimposition of sanctions "is aimed at depriving the regime of the revenues it uses to spread death and destruction around the world," Pompeo said.
"Our ultimate aim is to compel Iran to permanently abandon its well-documented outlaw activities and behave as a normal country."
When Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal struck between world powers and Iran, he began reimposing sanctions that had been suspended or removed by his predecessor Barack Obama. That process will be completed starting from midnight on Sunday, US eastern time, when sanctions on the regime's banks, shippers, shipbuilders and oil sector are imposed.
The impact remains in question as other countries, particularly Washington's European allies, are resisting joining its effort to economically strangle the Tehran regime.
Pompeo said the US would grant exemptions to eight countries that have pledged to or have already cut back on purchases of petroleum from Iran, which has long depended on crude exports to power its economy.
He did not name the eight countries, but they are believed to include India, Japan, South Korea, and possibly China.
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