BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised what he called President Donald Trump’s ‘courageous decision’ to reimpose US sanctions on Iran.

Addressing his Likud Party, Netanyahu called Monday “a historic day” on which the US imposed the “most severe sanctions … since the beginning of the effort to stop [Iran] aggression. Iran is the greatest threat to Israel, the Middle East and world peace. This is a matter that I also went against with the entire world,” he added.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted that President Trump’s decision to reinstate all sanctions that were removed under the 2015 nuclear deal “is the sea-change the Middle East has been waiting for. In a single move, the US is dealing a critical blow to Iran’s entrenchment in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen,” he said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that Iran faces 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.” He reiterated that the US will exert “relentless” pressure on Iran unless it changes its “revolutionary course”.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would overcome US sanctions on its oil, shipping, energy and banking sectors: “We are in the war situation. We are in the economic war situation. We are confronting a bullying enemy. We have to stand to win,” he said.

China, India, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Japan, Turkey and Taiwan have been exempted from US sanctions to allow them more time to find alternative sources of oil. The US also issued waivers for international efforts to continue to ensure Iran’s nuclear installations are not capable of producing nuclear weapons. The international activities at Iran’s nuclear power station, as well as the Fordow enrichment plant and the Arak heavy water reactor will be allowed “to continue under the strictest scrutiny to ensure transparency and maintain constraints on Iran,” the State Department said.