New US Warning to Companies Willing to Trade with Iran

As the deadline set by Donald Trump for correcting the "deficiencies" of the JCPOA approaches, a US Treasury official on Tuesday welcomed proposed sanctions from several European countries and warned companies willing to trade with Iran. This official also accused Tehran of non-compliance with the terms of the JCPOA, citing the "lack of transparency in Iran's banking system" as one of the reasons. After months and years of negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group, Tehran finally agreed in July 2015, under the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to halt many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of nuclear sanctions against it. However, Donald Trump, the US President, has been a vocal critic of the JCPOA since before his election campaign in 2016 and has continued to emphasize his criticisms. Following these criticisms, Mr. Trump set a deadline two months ago for addressing the "deficiencies" he identified in the JCPOA and threatened that without their resolution, he would not extend the suspension of sanctions against Iran and would withdraw from the nuclear agreement. This deadline expires on May 12, 2018. In this context, France, Britain, and Germany are in contact with the US government to see what actions might encourage Donald Trump to extend the suspension of sanctions against Iran. However, it was recently reported that these European countries have managed to convince other EU members to accept new sanctions against Tehran. According to Reuters, the US Deputy Treasury Secretary on Tuesday welcomed these proposed European sanctions in a speech in London, the capital of Britain. Ms. Sigal Mandelker, the Deputy Secretary, described any new sanctions as "an effort to counter Iran's malign activities in the region." She also accused Iran of failing to comply with the terms of the JCPOA, stating: "... they have not acted on the commitments they made." Reuters reports that Ms. Mandelker is on a three-day trip to Europe and will stop in Berlin and Paris in the next two days. This senior US official also warned companies willing to trade with Iran that the money they send to Iran "may reach regional militia groups and fuel instability in the region." This explicit warning could further damage Iran's chances of trading in the global market, as one of the current problems for foreign companies dealing with Iran is the fear of US penalties for violating existing sanctions. The new US warning comes just one day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened that violators of the JCPOA, whoever they may be, would pay a heavy "price" for their actions. Mr. Rouhani, referring to the nuclear agreement and the Trump administration's efforts over the past 15 months to "violate" it, reminded: "Some have provoked very much to make us violate the JCPOA ourselves... If you breach the agreement, you must pay the price yourself. You will not be able to breach the agreement at the expense of the Iranian nation." According to Reuters, Radio Farda / F. D. / P. P.