Biden weighs easing pressure without lifting key Iran sanctions

The Biden administration is weighing ways to ease Iran’s financial pressure without lifting crushing economic sanctions – including on oil sales – as a step toward reviving the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by former president Donald Trump.

Some options US officials are debating include providing backing for International Monetary Fund lending to Tehran for coronavirus relief and easing up on sanctions that have stymied international coronavirus aid from getting into Iran, according to four people familiar with the administration’s thinking. Such moves could be justified on humanitarian grounds, Bloomberg reported.

President Joe Biden could also sign an executive order reversing Trump’s decision to quit the multinational deal, according to the people. But issuing sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell oil on the international market isn’t currently under serious consideration, according to the people.

But, Iran’s key demand is the removal of restrictions the US put on the country’s ability to sell oil.

“Over recent months there’s been a lot of thinking in both Europe and the Democratic camp on a number of immediate measures the US can realistically take,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Reviving the Iran deal has emerged as one of the Biden administration’s highest-profile foreign policy challenges, part of a slew of actions meant to halt or reverse initiatives championed by Trump’s national security team.

Biden’s National Security Council held a meeting on West Asia’s issues Friday that was believed to focus on Iran, but White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter that “no pending policy announcements” were expected from the gathering.

Source: Iran Daily