Iran Sanctions: Us Vows 'relentless' Pressure As Sanctions Resume bbc.com

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that the US will exert "relentless" pressure on Iran unless it changes its "revolutionary course".

His comments came hours after the Trump administration restored all sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, targeting core parts of Iran's economy.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani earlier struck a defiant tone, saying the country will "continue selling oil".

"We will proudly break the sanctions," he told economic officials.

Mr Pompeo told reporters: "The Iranian regime has a choice: it can either do a 180-degree turn from its outlaw course of action and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble."

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He said more than 20 nations had already cut their oil intake from the Islamic Republic, and its exports had fallen by a million barrels a day.

European countries which are still party to the 2015 accord have said they will help businesses bypass the sanctions. But there are doubts about how successful this will be.

How did we get here?
US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear accord earlier this year, calling it the "worst deal ever negotiated".

The agreement offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reducing its nuclear development. The global nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran has complied with it.

President Trump has said he wants to get Iran back to the negotiating table.

His administration also wants to stop what it calls Tehran's "malign" activities – including cyber attacks, ballistic missile tests, and support for terror groups and militias in the Middle East.

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Mr Trump has taken a more aggressive approach to Iran than his predecessor, Barack Obama
The president believes his "maximum pressure" strategy is working, but said on Monday that he wants to impose sanctions gradually to prevent a spike in energy prices.

"I could get the Iran oil down to zero immediately," he told journalists, "but it would cause a shock to the market. I don't want to lift oil prices."

The US state department said that three civil nuclear projects set up in Iran through the 2015 deal would be allowed to continue, "under the strictest scrutiny".

It said "temporary" waivers had been granted, without giving a timeframe.

Why does the US claim Iran is the 'world's largest state sponsor of terrorism'?
The US and Iran have been arch-foes since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Since then, Iran has provided arms and financial support to militant groups active in the Middle East and further afield.

Some of these groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, have carried out devastating attacks, including on a military barracks in Beirut in 1983, which killed 241 US service personnel and 58 French paratroopers. Iran denied being behind that attack.