The Trump administration, in coordination with Israel and several Gulf states, is conducting a plan to push a long list of new sanctions on Iran in the 10 weeks left until Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th.
According to a report published by Axios on Sunday, the Trump administration’s envoy for Iran Elliott Abrams arrived in Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and national security adviser Meir Ben Shabat to discuss the sanctions plan.
Abrams will meet on Monday with Minister of Defense Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to brief them on the plan.
It is believed by the Trump administration that such a “flood” of sanctions will place an immense pressure on the Iranians and make it harder for the Biden administration to bring to life the 2015 nuclear deal.
However, the planned sanctions are not connected to the Iranian nuclear program. The goal is to impose sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program, Iranian assistance to terror organizations, and Iranian human rights violations.
A Biden win has ignited hope to fortify the nuclear deal, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday said “an opportunity has come up for the next U.S. administration to compensate for past mistakes and return to the path of complying with international agreements through respect of international norms.”
Abrams has stated in a briefing several days ago that the Trump administration wants to announce a new set of sanctions on Iran every week until January 20th.
According to the report, Abrams will travel from Israel to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to discuss the sanctions plan. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the two main allies to the Trump administration and both are very concerned by the Biden administration’s future Iran policy.
Joe Biden has said that, if he wins the election, the United States will rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and end Trump’s maximum pressure policy against Tehran.
According to Sami Nader, a Lebanese political analyst, that is music to the ears of Hezbollah, and of course its Iranian backers. “But if Biden wins then Iran and Hezbollah may make fewer concessions.”
The United States left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 after the Trump administration came into position.
Since then, the Trump government has implemented a policy known as “maximum pressure” on Iran, which is comprised of long and strict sanctions on Iran’s oil and mineral industries, as well as high-ranking Iranian officials involved in human rights violations. This has led to the crippling of Iran’s economy.
