With 24 hours before the second wave of sanctions against Iran goes into effect, US President Donald Trump placed the Tehran regime before two strict choices: either give up its nefarious regional behavior or face crippling sanctions and economic collapse.
He also called on countries trading with Iran to measure the risks they will be facing.
“Governments and businesses should ask themselves whether continuing to deal with Iran is worth the risk,” Trump said in his Friday statement.
“Since the disastrous nuclear deal was reached, Iran’s military budget has grown by nearly 40 percent. The regime has poured billions of dollars into regional conflicts, accelerated its missile development and proliferation, and repeatedly lied about its nuclear ambitions,” he said.
Trump's statement came hours after US foreign and treasury secretaries confirmed the United States' intention to implement sanctions against Iran from Monday.
"Sanctions are coming," tweeted Trump after Friday's announcement.
“This agreement failed in its fundamental objective, which was to permanently block all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb, and it did nothing to address the regime’s malign actions across the Middle East and beyond,” he said, while slamming Iran’s foreign policy and proxy warfare.
Trump pointed out that the purpose of US sanctions is “to force the regime into a clear choice: either abandon its destructive behavior or continue down the path toward economic disaster”.
“Finally, I want to be clear that the United States’ actions are aimed at the regime and its threatening behavior—not at the long-suffering Iranian people. For this reason, we reiterate today that the sale of food, medicine, medical devices and agricultural commodities to Iran has long been, and remains, exempt from the sanctions,” Trump added.
He concluded his statement with urging the Tehran regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions, change its destructive behavior, respect the rights of its people and return in good faith to the negotiating table.
