US extends sanctions for Iran under nuclear deal

The United States on Thursday extended some sanctions relief for Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal, the State Department said, but no decision has been made on whether to preserve the deal itself.

At the same time, President Donald Trump said that Iran is violating “the spirit” of the nuclear deal and the US Treasury announced new sanctions on about a dozen Iranian and other nationality individuals or entities for activities related to Iran.

“We are not going to stand for what they are doing,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. But he stopped short of saying whether he will refuse to recertify the agreement.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the administration approved waivers of some sanctions to “maintain some flexibility” as it develops a policy to address the range of Iranian behavior.

“Waiving some of those sanctions should not be seen as an indication of President Trump or his administration’s position on the [Iran nuclear deal], nor is the waiver giving the Iranian regime a pass on its broad range of malign behavior,” she said at a news briefing.

Nauert did not specify which sanctions the administration had waived.

 

Read the whole story from Middle East Eye.

Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons