U.S. reimposes all sanctions on Iran, exempts 8 countries

The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will slap back sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the historic 2015 Iran nuke deal, with eight jurisdictions given temporary waivers.

United States President Donald Trump. [Photo: CGTN]

According to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, the sanctions, the second batch of its kind, will take effect on Monday, targeting Iran's shipping, financial and energy sectors.

All nations that still buy Iran's oil and do business with blacklisted Iranian entities will be punished under the sanctions regime, except the eight nations that will be given temporary waivers, they added.

Mnuchin said some 700 Iranian companies and people would also be sanctioned.

The sanctions were "aimed at fundamentally altering the behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Pompeo. "Maximum pressure means maximum pressure."

However, the U.S. officials have not revealed the names of eight countries getting waivers.

Bloomberg had reported earlier on Friday that India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey would be among the ones temporarily exempt from the sanctions. They would be allowed to continue to purchase Iran's oil products temporarily, but they have to cut the imports until they reach zero. Pompeo said the countries had made efforts to cut their imports but could not complete the task by Monday's deadline.

After leaving the Iran nuke deal in May, the U.S. government on Aug. 7 re-imposed sanctions on Iran in non-energy areas, and will slap the remaining sanctions on Nov. 5 that concentrate on such areas as energy, shipping and ports.

For its part, Tehran has said that the U.S. side is unreliable and it will not talk with Washington.