U.S. cuts Iran sanction reliefs

The Trump administration will rescind all but one of the remaining waivers that allow some companies in Europe, Russia, and China to work at Iranian civilian nuclear plants without facing sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said companies have 60 days to cease operations.

Why reinstate sanctions now? The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew from in 2018, allowed the waivers. Pompeo pointed out Iran has openly admitted to violating aspects of the deal. The State Department also froze the assets of two officials at Iran’s atomic energy agency for involvement in enriching uranium. “A regime that just days ago invoked ‘The Final Solution’ and which regularly threatens to wipe Israel off the map must never obtain a nuclear weapon,” Pompeo said.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Mindy Belz’s analysis of Iran’s nuclear program.