White House directs US agencies to ‘pause new sanctions’ against Iran: WSJ

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, a directive from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt instructed US agencies to halt all new sanctions activity towards the Islamic Republic.

It said the reported hiatus had been communicated to top officials at the National Security Council (NSC), Treasury Department, and State Department, but the unusual nature of the directive — coming directly from the White House press secretary rather than the NSC or Treasury — had raised eyebrows.

It was followed by American officials’ raising questions about the future of President Donald Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure” strategy towards Tehran, which has been central to Washington’s policy.

Trump initiated the approach during his previous tenure. The method was followed up on closely and even amplified under successor Joe Biden, and then kept up with full force during Trump’s current incumbency.

As part of the attitude, the United States left a historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and other countries, walked back its partial removal of its sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and even began to pile up more illegal and unilateral coercive economic measures.

Trump’s current tenure has even seen him call, under the policy, for Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment levels to “zero,” even threaten to completely destroy the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, and warn he could start deploying a “massive maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

The approach has continued, although Washington has begun engaging in Omani-mediated talks with the country since April.

Ever since initiation of the approach under Trump’s former administration, Iran has refused to buckle under any component of the campaign.

It has called enrichment its integral right, and insisted that the talks have to focus solely on the nuclear issue and removal of the sanctions.

Most recently, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei vowed during a weekly presser that the Islamic Republic would continue enrichment as permitted under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Tehran is a signatory.

He, meanwhile, called for pressure to rather be applied towards dismantlement of the nuclear weapon arsenal of the Israeli regime — the US’s closest regional ally that has avoided scrutiny of its nuclear arms program under Washington’s aegis.

In its report, The Journal cited a source close to the White House as indicating that the campaign, which was once aimed, fruitlessly though, at crippling Iran’s economy, was now effectively at a standstill.

The daily attributed this to the NSC’s being reportedly in disarray, with over 100 staff members placed on leave, and key policy responsibilities waiting to be fully sorted out between the State Department and the Office of the Vice President.

While the White House has not explicitly confirmed the sanctions pause, deputy press secretary Anna Kelly acknowledged that any new decisions regarding sanctions would be announced by the White House or relevant agencies.

According to The Journal, no new sanctions designations have been made since May 21, and at least two more planned Treasury designations have been delayed.

The uncertainty surrounding the reported pause has, in the meantime, led to differing opinions among US officials, it said.

Some believe it is a temporary measure aimed at scrutinizing new sanctions in light of the sensitive nature of the indirect talks, while others worry that key policy players have been left out of the loop.

There is also confusion about whether the pause only applies to new sanctions or extends to enforcing existing measures, the report noted.

The paper additionally cited some officials as voicing concern about whether Washington could afford to allow a let-up in its significantly hostile approach towards Tehran at a time, when it had to go about, what they called, rather ramping up the pressure.

Iran has, nevertheless, vowed to keep up its peaceful nuclear energy activities despite the American maneuvers.

Earlier this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian asserted that the Islamic Republic was “more powerful than ever,” despite the ongoing pressure from sanctions.

He emphasized that the country had a wealth of alternatives to go for if Washington chose to rather sanction the nation further instead of properly negotiating with it.