US officials say "Iran sanctions will be increased in 2020"
At the same time as the US Special Representative for Iran's statements about continuing the "maximum pressure campaign" in 2020, CNBC also quoted US State Department officials as saying that sanctions will be increased.
According to CNBC, a senior US State Department official said in a telephone interview with reporters, "More sanctions are on the way, and Iran's economic problems and challenges will multiply in 2020."
Concurrently with this report, on January 29, Brian Hook, the US State Department's representative for Iran, said in an interview with Al-Hurra Network that the Islamic Republic was facing "the biggest economic crisis in its history" and that this crisis would "get worse" in 2020.
"They're already in a severe economic recession, and at the same time we're seeing Iran being further isolated diplomatically," a senior US State Department official told reporters, according to CNBC.
The television channel, citing another US State Department official, added that the Donald Trump administration has sanctioned around a thousand individuals and entities linked to the Islamic Republic's "destructive behavior."
After withdrawing from the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, the Trump administration has reimposed and significantly increased sanctions on Iran. Washington says it aims to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.
Mr. Trump's administration has emphasized that the goal of these sanctions is to bring Iran back to the negotiating table to reach a comprehensive agreement that will curb Tehran's military nuclear program, ballistic missile development, and "malign behavior" in the region and the world.
The Islamic Republic's highest official, its supreme leader, who has the final say on the talks, has ruled out new direct talks with the US government. The Islamic Republic has rejected accusations of interference in other countries and "destructive behavior" and says it has no intention of giving up its missile program, which it describes as "defensive."
However, officials in the Islamic Republic have repeatedly spoken of the consequences of the sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that the country has not kept its promises made at the beginning of its government's term, saying, "We made those promises in peacetime, and then we went to war."
The Statistical Center of Iran announced on January 1 of this year that inflation in the 12 months ending in December (annual inflation) had reached 40 percent.
The situation in Iran and the region has undergone other developments in recent weeks; widespread protests in Iran in late November engulfed almost the entire country. Reuters reports that 1,500 people have been killed in these protests. Although the Islamic Republic's authorities still refuse to provide official statistics, they have rejected this number of deaths.
In recent days, Iraq has also been the scene of US attacks on one of the most important militia groups supported by the Islamic Republic, a group that Washington says has endangered the interests and lives of American citizens. The Iraqi government has condemned these attacks.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on the other hand, has warned that any attack by Iranian proxies in Iraq on US forces and allies will result in "decisive action" from the United States.
Source: Radio Farda
