Donald Trump said he would reimpose sanctions on Tehran that were waived as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal agreed during the Obama administration and from which the US withdrew in 2018.
“I am directing the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to notify the UN Security Council that the United States intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended UN sanctions on Iran. It’s a ‘snapback’,” Mr Trump said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has argued that it had the authority to trigger the reimposition of sanctions even though the US withdrew from the pact, a landmark achievement of former President Barack Obama under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.