World

US vows 'strongest sanctions in history' on Iran

May 21, 2018 4:07 pm

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is imposing the “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran.

In a speech in Washington, America’s top diplomat said Iran would be “battling to keep its economy alive” after the sanctions took effect.

His Iranian counterpart said the US was a prisoner of its “failed policies” and would suffer the consequences.

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Earlier this month, President Donald Trump took the US out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Mr Pompeo had not demonstrated in his speech how abandoning the deal made the region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation.

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US sanctions lifted after the 2015 deal will be re-imposed, Mr Pompeo said, and those and new measures will together constitute “unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime”.