Trump administration plans new sanctions on Iran before January 20

(Karachi) In a latest move, Trump led United States administration has prepared a plan to impose a series of new sanctions on Iran before the presidential inauguration on January 20 in hopes of making it more difficult for Joe Biden to return to the 2015 US nuclear deal, an article published in Axios stated on Monday.

As per details, the sanctions are reportedly not linked to the Iranian nuclear program but to Iran's ballistic missile program, assistance to terror organizations and human rights violations. In 2018, Donald Trump backed out of the agreement, saying it failed to curtail Iran's ballistic missile program and its influence in the region.

As part of the process to discuss the sanction's plan, the US envoy for Iran Elliott Abrams arrived in Israel on November 8 and met Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat. The American diplomat is also expected to meet Minister of Defense Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi today to brief them on the plan.

In an effort to increase pressure on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will arrive in Israel on November 18 to deliberate on the matter. The Trump and Israeli administrations has prepared a list of Iranian entities that will be sanctioned.

However, Democratic party leader Joe Biden's win has boosted hopes of revitalizing the Iran-US nuclear deal. In a statement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that an opportunity has come up for the next US administration to compensate for past mistakes and return to the path of complying with international agreements through respect of international norms.

Earlier in October, President Donald Trump announced a fresh round of sanctions on Iran affecting the country's financial system. The US Treasury Department blacklisted 18 major Iranian banks – 16 of which were targeted for “operating in Iran’s financial sector”, one bank controlled by a sanctioned Iranian bank and one the US Treasury says is affiliated with Iran’s military.