Trump promises strict secondary sanctions on companies that trade with Iran after November

In May, Trump announced that he was withdrawing the US from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers, which meant that international companies would need to close their operations in Iran in order to continue doing business with the US.

He then announced that he would apply secondary sanctions to foreign businesses who continued to do business with Iran, which could mean imposing fines on any business holdings in the US or cutting off their access to the US financial market.

Of course, not all countries are working with the US on this. Many are seeking to pass laws forcing their companies to abide by the terms of the nuclear deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even though this could cause the companies to come under secondary sanctions.

Trump told Fox News: “We’re protecting many of those countries.”

Rising Oil Costs

The US withdrawal from the Iran deal has significantly increased global oil prices, as supply from Iran will soon dry up, but the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Friday that it would increase oil production by 1 million barrels per day in July to help reduce costs.

Trump said that this didn’t go far enough and tweeted on Saturday that King Salman of Saudi Arabia agreed to increase oil production by 2 million barrels.

In a statement, the White House said: “King Salman affirmed that the kingdom maintains a two million barrel per day spare capacity, which it will prudently use if and when necessary to ensure market balance and stability, and in coordination with its producer partners, to respond to any eventuality.”

The withdrawal

So why did Trump withdraw from the deal? Well Trump has always been vocal about the flaws in the Iran nuclear deal, from its expiration dates to its failure to deal with Iranian terrorism or human rights abuses, since the campaign trail.

On May 8, he withdrew from the nuclear deal, citing the reluctance of the international community to deal with these flaws as part of the deal and Iran’s cheating on the deal (i.e. launching ballistic missiles and maintaining a nuclear programme).

This move was supported by the Iranian people, who opposed the Iran deal for legitimising the mullahs’ regime and want the Regime to be brought down in order to achieve a democratic government.