Since the initiation of the Maximum Pressure Campaign, the US has stopped an estimated $65 billion in potential Iranian oil revenue, a US State Department spokesperson told Trend .
This Administration has issued over 50 rounds of sanctions designations since 2017, targeting more than 1200 Iranian individuals and entities, said the spokesperson.
The source said these sanctions are the toughest ever imposed on the Iranian regime and this Administration is committed to fully enforcing them.
“The regime’s 2019 to 2020 budget called for a 28 percent cut to defense spending, including a 17 percent cut for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. We will continue with Maximum Pressure. We have launched a multi-pronged pressure campaign that reflects President Trump’s goal of protecting the American people and our allies and partners,” said the spokesperson.
The US State Department representative said that the aggressive re-imposition of sanctions is starving Iranian government of money.
“Our sanctions do not now, nor have they ever, targeted humanitarian goods. The United States does not sanction the export of food or medicine to Iran. President Trump withdrew from the Iran deal because it failed to guarantee the safety of the American people. The President could not continue to issue sanctions relief to the Iranian regime while its threats continued to grow. The US is seeking a deal with Iran that comprehensively addresses the regime’s destabilizing behavior – not just their nuclear program, but also their missile program, support to terrorism, and malign regional behavior,” said the spokesperson.
“Sanctions relief, the reestablishment of full diplomatic and commercial relations with the United States, and U.S. economic cooperation can only begin when we see that the regime is serious about changing its behavior. President Trump is prepared to talk with the Iranian regime without preconditions.”
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