US Officials Say ‘Iran Sanctions Will Be Expanded in 2020’

Coinciding with statements from the US Special Representative for Iran Affairs about continuing the “maximum pressure campaign” in 2020, the CNBC network also reported, citing US State Department officials, that sanctions will be expanded.

According to CNBC, a senior State Department official told reporters in a telephone conversation that “more sanctions are on the way, and Iran’s economic problems and challenges will double in 2020.”

Concurrent with this report, on December 30th, Brian Hook, the US State Department’s representative on Iran affairs, also said in an interview with Al Hurra network that the Islamic Republic was facing “the greatest economic crisis in its history” and this crisis would “worsen in 2020.”

According to CNBC, a senior State Department official told reporters that “they are already experiencing severe economic recession, and at the same time we are witnessing Iran being subjected to greater diplomatic isolation.”

The television network also quoted another US State Department official as saying that the Trump administration has sanctioned approximately one thousand individuals and entities linked to the Islamic Republic’s “destructive behavior.”

After withdrawing from the nuclear agreement reached under the previous administration between Iran and six world powers, the Trump administration reimposed Iranian sanctions and significantly expanded them. Washington says it aims to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.

The Trump administration has emphasized that the goal of these sanctions is to bring Iran back to the negotiating table to reach a comprehensive agreement that would halt Iran’s military nuclear program, the development of ballistic missiles, and Tehran’s “destructive behavior” in the region and globally.

The Islamic Republic’s highest-ranking official, its leader, who is the final decision-maker regarding negotiations, has rejected new and direct talks with the US government. The Islamic Republic has rejected accusations of interference in other countries and “destructive behavior,” saying it has no intention of abandoning its missile program, which it describes as “defensive.”

Nevertheless, Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly spoken about the consequences of sanctions. Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, said on Monday regarding his failure to fulfill promises he made at the beginning of his administration: “We made those promises under conditions of peace, then we entered war.”

Iran’s Statistical Center announced on December 1st of this year that the 12-month inflation rate ending in December had reached 40 percent.

Conditions in Iran and the region have undergone other developments in recent weeks; widespread protests in Iran in late November encompassed almost the entire country. Reuters news agency says 1,500 people were killed in these protests. Although Islamic Republic officials have so far refrained from providing official figures, they have denied this number of deaths.

In recent days, Iraq was also the scene of US attacks on one of the most important paramilitary groups supported by the Islamic Republic; a group that according to Washington has endangered the interests and lives of American citizens. The Iraqi government has condemned these attacks.

Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, on the other hand, warned that any attack by Iran’s proxy forces in Iraq against US forces and allies will result in “decisive action” by the United States.

Source: Radio Farda