The Trump administration on Thursday imposed new sanctions meant to target Iranian oil shipments to China, which came after the president signed an executive order to reinstate the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran of his previous administration.
President Biden essentially continued the Iran policies of the first Trump administration and even added sanctions on Iran. But during that time, Iran found oil markets in Asia that weren’t afraid of US sanctions, and it’s unclear if the new Trump sanctions will have any real impact.
According to AP, the new sanctions target a “network” of more than a dozen people and firms in China, India, and the UAE. The targets include Iranian and Indian citizens, crew management companies, and a series of ships.
The Treasury Department accused the network of “facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
When President Trump signed his order to reimpose maximum pressure, he claimed that he was “unhappy” to do it and hoped to reach a deal with Iran soon. But there’s no sign yet that his administration is attempting diplomacy with Iran.
The Iranian government, which has made clear it’s willing to talk with the Trump administration, said that maximum pressure will fail again. “I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iran has said it would be easy to resolve the nuclear issue with the US since it doesn’t seek nuclear weapons. Trump himself even acknowledged while signing his order that Iranian leadership doesn’t seek a bomb despite the constant hype from the US and Israel about Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions.
