Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A timeline of what Trump has said about the Iran deal

US President Donald Trump says he is extending sanctions relief for Iran one last time so Europe and the US can fix the nuclear deal's "terrible flaws".

The waiver he will sign suspends US sanctions on Iran for another 120 days.

The White House wants EU signatories to agree permanent restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment. Under the current deal they are set to expire in 2025.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was a "desperate attempt" to undermine a "solid" deal.

Germany said it would continue to call for the deal's full implementation and would consult on a "common way forward" with the UK and France.

Mr Trump also wants Iran's ballistic missile programme to be addressed.

"This is a last chance," the US president said in a statement on Friday. "In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.

"And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately."

Also on Friday, the US imposed separate sanctions against 14 Iranian individuals and entities it accuses of rights abuses, censorship and support for weapons proliferators.

The US still maintains sanctions on Iran - independent of the nuclear deal - on matters such as terrorism, human rights and ballistic missile development.

What is the deal?

The landmark accord was signed between six global powers and Iran in 2015.

It saw Iran agree to reduce uranium enrichment activity drastically, dispose of its enriched uranium stocks and modify a heavy water facility so it could not produce material suitable for a nuclear bomb.

In return, decades of international and US nuclear-related sanctions were suspended, and the US president must sign a waiver suspending them every 120 days.

But Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the deal - reached under his predecessor Barack Obama - as "the worst ever".

What does the US want?

Senior Trump administration officials briefed reporters on Friday to say the president will work with European partners to broker an agreement limiting Iran's ballistic missiles activities.

Mr Trump is prepared to back a modification to the existing deal if it was made permanent, one official said.

The president also wants the US Congress to amend a law on US participation in the nuclear deal, so that Washington could reimpose all sanctions if Iran breaches certain "trigger points".

This will involve negotiations between the US and its European allies rather than talks with Iran, the official said.

BBC state department correspondent Barbara Plett Usher is sceptical that any international agreement can be negotiated in 120 days.

She says Iran is not interested in brokering a new deal, so Mr Trump will have either to back down or walk away.

Déjà vu

Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent

Some four months ago when President Trump refused to re-certify the Iran deal he passed the baton to Congress while keeping the agreement in place.

This time he has put the ball in the Europeans' court expecting Britain, France and Germany to come up with some accord that will, as he sees it, fix the deal's shortcomings.

While they worry about Iran's missile programmes and its regional activities, the Europeans believe the nuclear accord itself is working well. Furthermore even if they could come up with a follow-on agreement in a ludicrously short space of time, there is simply no chance of Iran agreeing to it.

So in another four months we will be back exactly where we are now. Mr Trump will have the problematic task of either re-imposing sanctions - effectively killing the nuclear accord - or of having to extricate himself from a problem of his own making.

Is the current deal working?

In October, President Trump refused to certify that Iran was in compliance with the accord, accusing the country of "not living up to the spirit" of the pact.

However, UN inspectors have certified nine times that Iran has not breached the deal.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who helped broker the agreement, said on Thursday that the accord is "making the world safer".

She said it was also "preventing a potential nuclear arms race in the region".

What does Iran say?

Iran said on Friday that Mr Trump was "maliciously violating" the deal.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: "Trump's policy & today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

Tehran has vowed to stick to the accord as long as the other signatories respect it, but to "shred" it if Washington pulls out.

Iran says the missiles it has tested are not designed to carry nuclear warheads and insists its nuclear programme is a peaceful one for energy purposes.

What did the rest of the world say?

After Mr Trump's announcement, Germany said it would "continue to campaign for the full implementation of the nuclear agreement".

French President Emmanuel Macron phoned Mr Trump on Thursday to call for "the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it".

In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the pact was "the result of a consensus among many parties".

The accord can be seen as "either good or bad, but it is the only one that reflects this consensus," Mr Peskov said on Friday, ahead of Mr Trump's announcement. </s> The Latest: Trump reinstates many sanctions on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S. sanctions on Iran (all times local):

President Donald Trump is signing an executive order reimposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. He says the U.S. policy is to levy "maximum economic pressure" on the country.

In a statement Monday, Trump restated his opinion that the 2015 international accord to freeze Iran's nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions was a "horrible, one-sided deal." He says it left the Iranian government flush with cash to use to fuel conflict in the Middle East.

Trump says the U.S. is urging all nations "to make clear that the Iranian regime faces a choice: either change its threatening, destabilizing behavior and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation."

Trump warned that those that don't wind down their ties to the Iranian economy "risk severe consequences" under the reimposed sanctions.

A senior administration official says the United States is "not particularly concerned" by EU efforts to protect European firms from the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.

The European Union issued a "blocking statute" Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of sanctions set to return Monday at midnight.

The official says the U.S. will use the sanctions aggressively and cited Iran's severe economic downturn this year as evidence the sanctions would prove to be effective despite opposition from the EU, China and Russia.

European foreign ministers say they "deeply regret" the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

A statement Monday by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom insisted that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal "is working and delivering on its goal" of limiting Iran's nuclear program.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, which had lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. U.N. inspectors said Iran was complying with the deal, but Trump argued that it didn't do enough.

But the European ministers said the Iran deal is "crucial for the security of Europe, the region and the entire world."

The first set of reinstated U.S. sanctions goes into effect Monday. Those target Iran's automotive sector as well as gold and other metals.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the renewed sanctions against Iran are an important pillar in U.S. policy toward the Tehran government.

Pompeo says the sanctions will be rigorously enforced and remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.

Those sanctions go back in place on Monday.

Pompeo told reporters on his way home from a three-nation trip to South East Asia that the Trump administration is open to looking beyond sanctions but adds that would "require enormous change" from Tehran.

He said President Donald Trump is intent on getting Iran to "behave like a normal country."

U.S. sanctions had been eased by the Obama administration under the terms of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump decided in May to withdraw from the accord. </s> TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Saturday it won't accept any changes to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the accord in a few months if European allies did not fix its "terrible flaws." In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Foreign Ministry said Iran "will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in future," adding that it will "not take any action beyond its commitments."

It also said Iran would not allow the deal to be linked to other issues, after Mr. Trump suggested that the sanctions relief under the deal be tied to Iran limiting its long-range ballistic missile program.

Mr. Trump on Friday extended the waivers of key economic sanctions that were lifted under the agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program. But he said he would work with European allies to remove so-called "sunset clauses" that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear activities in the next decade.

"Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies' agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal," Mr. Trump said. "This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately. No one should doubt my word."

He paired Friday's concession with other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses and ballistic missile development. The Treasury Department's action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.

The Iranian statement said the targeting of one of the officials, judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, "crossed all behavioral red lines of the international community." It said the sanctions are against international law and go against U.S. commitments, saying they would bring a "strong reaction" from Iran.

The 2015 nuclear accord, reached after months of painstaking negotiations with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program. Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized the accord, while Iran has accused the U.S. of failing to comply with it. The next sanctions waivers are due in May. </s> Trump on Friday extended the waivers of key economic sanctions that were lifted under the agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Iran rejects Trump’s demand for changing nuclear deal

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Saturday it won’t accept any changes to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the accord in a few months if European allies did not fix its “terrible flaws.”

In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Foreign Ministry said Iran “will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in future,” adding that it will “not take any action beyond its commitments.”

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It also said Iran would not allow the deal to be linked to other issues, after Trump suggested that the sanctions relief under the deal be tied to Iran limiting its long-range ballistic missile program.

Trump on Friday extended the waivers of key economic sanctions that were lifted under the agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program. But he said he would work with European allies to remove so-called “sunset clauses” that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear activities in the next decade.

He paired Friday’s concession with other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses and ballistic missile development. The Treasury Department’s action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.

The Iranian statement said the targeting of one of the officials, judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, “crossed all behavioral red lines of the international community.” It said the sanctions are against international law and go against U.S. commitments, saying they would bring a “strong reaction” from Iran.

The 2015 nuclear accord, reached after months of painstaking negotiations with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly criticized the accord, while Iran has accused the U.S. of failing to comply with it. The next sanctions waivers are due in May. </s> The United States re-imposed a wave of tough, unilateral sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, bringing back into effect harsh penalties that had been lifted under a historic, multi-party nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump abandoned in May.

The first of two rounds of US sanctions kicked in at 12:01 am (0431 GMT), targeting Iran's access to US banknotes and key industries, including cars and carpets.

Iranians are already seeing the effects of the sanctions, with Iran's rial currency losing around half its value since Trump announced the US would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord.

Trump's contempt for the nuclear deal dates back to his time as presidential candidate and on May 8, he made good on a pledge to pull America out of the international agreement.

He blasted the agreement yet again Monday, calling it a "horrible, one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb."

The unilateral withdrawal came despite other parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the EU -- pleading with Trump not to abandon the pact aimed at blocking Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and highlights the US leader's go-it-alone style and his distaste for multilateral agreements.

In an executive order Monday, Trump said the sanctions seek to pile financial pressure on Tehran to force a "comprehensive and lasting solution" to Iranian threats, including its development of missiles and regional "malign" activities.

The European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc, as well as Britain, France and Germany, deeply regretted Washington's move.

"We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran," she said in a statement.

Many large European firms are leaving Iran for fear of US penalties, and Trump warned of "severe consequences" against firms and individuals that continued to do business with Iran.

The impact of the return of sanctions has ramped up tensions inside Iran, which has seen days of protests and strikes in multiple towns and cities over water shortages, high prices and wider anger at the political system.

Severe reporting restrictions have made it impossible to verify the swirl of claims coming through social media.

Trump said he was open to reaching a more comprehensive deal with Iran "that addresses the full range of the regime's malign activities, including its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism."

But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was unimpressed by the offer.

"If you're an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife, and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," the Iranian leader said in an interview on state television.

"They want to launch psychological warfare against the Iranian nation," Rouhani said. "Negotiations with sanctions doesn't make sense."

John Glaser, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, noted that the US sees the sanctions "as a tool to pressure Iran to come back to the negotiating table to rehash the nuclear deal on terms more to Trump's liking. That is not going to happen."

The second phase of US sanctions, which takes effect November 5 and will block Iran's oil sales, is due to cause more damage, though several countries including China, India and Turkey have indicated they are not willing to entirely cut their Iranian energy purchases.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters the global reaction to Trump's move showed that the US was diplomatically "isolated," but acknowledged the sanctions "may cause some disruption."

Rouhani's government has taken emergency measures to stem the collapse of the rial ahead of the return of sanctions. </s> Since President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out on May 8, European powers have been trying to find a way to ensure Iran still receives economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. But that has proven difficult, with European firms frightened away by U.S. sanctions.

Nations that remain in the agreement meet on Friday for the first time since Trump left the pact, but diplomats see limited scope for salvaging it. British, Chinese, French, German and Russian officials will try to flesh out with Iran's deputy foreign minister a strategy to save the deal by keeping oil and investment flowing.

"I am personally maybe not optimistic but ... I am trying my best to come to a conclusion," a senior Iranian official told reporters ahead of the talks.

E.U. leaders have united behind the accord, with Brussels working on measures including banning E.U.-based firms from complying with reimposed U.S. sanctions and urging governments to make money transfers to Iran's central bank to avoid fines.

"We expect the (economic) package to be given to us by the end of May," the Iranian official said. "I'm sorry to say that we haven't (seen) the Plan B yet. The Plan B has just started to be figured out."

He said European measures would need to ensure that oil exports did not halt.

Washington has threatened not only to reimpose sanctions but to make them even tighter. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday threatened Iran with "the strongest sanctions in history" if it did not change its behavior in the Middle East.

"Pompeo was like taking a cold shower," a European diplomat said. "We'll try to cling to the deal, but ... we're under no illusions."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei set out conditions on Wednesday for Iran to stay in the deal: unless Europe guarantees Iran's oil sales will not be hurt, Tehran would resume enrichment of nuclear material. He also rejected any new negotiations over Iran's missile program, which was not covered in the nuclear deal and which Iran says it will never give up.

The Iranian official said on Friday: "We don't have enough time. We expect the (meeting) today to take a unified position against the withdrawal of the United States and compensate for the U.S. absence in the deal."

The Treasury announced more sanctions on Thursday on several Iranian and Turkish companies and a number of aircraft in a move targeting four Iranian airlines.

Iran has struggled to benefit from the accord so far, partly because of remaining unilateral U.S. sanctions that have deterred major Western investors from doing business with Tehran. Some Western companies have already quit Iran or said they may have to leave because of the new U.S. sanctions.

Trump denounced the accord, completed under his predecessor Barack Obama, because it did not cover Iran's ballistic missile program, its role in Middle East conflicts or what happens after the deal begins to expire in 2025.

While European nations share those concerns, they say that torpedoing the nuclear deal makes them far harder, not easier, to address. They have said that as long as Tehran meets its commitments, they would remain in the deal.

The U.N. atomic watchdog policing the pact said on Thursday Iran continued to comply with the terms of the deal, but could be faster and more proactive in allowing snap inspections. </s> The Latest: US not worried about EU move on sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S. sanctions on Iran (all times local):

A senior administration official says the United States is "not particularly concerned" by EU efforts to protect European firms from the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.

The European Union issued a "blocking statute" Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of sanctions set to return Monday at midnight.

The official says the U.S. will use the sanctions aggressively and cited Iran's severe economic downturn this year as evidence the sanctions would prove to be effective despite opposition from the EU, China and Russia.

European foreign ministers say they "deeply regret" the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

A statement Monday by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom insisted that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal "is working and delivering on its goal" of limiting Iran's nuclear program.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, which had lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. U.N. inspectors said Iran was complying with the deal, but Trump argued that it didn't do enough.

But the European ministers said the Iran deal is "crucial for the security of Europe, the region and the entire world."

The first set of reinstated U.S. sanctions goes into effect Monday. Those target Iran's automotive sector as well as gold and other metals.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the renewed sanctions against Iran are an important pillar in U.S. policy toward the Tehran government.

Pompeo says the sanctions will be rigorously enforced and remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.

Those sanctions go back in place on Monday.

Pompeo told reporters on his way home from a three-nation trip to South East Asia that the Trump administration is open to looking beyond sanctions but adds that would "require enormous change" from Tehran.

He said President Donald Trump is intent on getting Iran to "behave like a normal country."

U.S. sanctions had been eased by the Obama administration under the terms of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump decided in May to withdraw from the accord. </s> Susannah George and Zeke Miller, The Associated Press 

 



WASHINGTON -- The first set of U.S. sanctions against Iran that had been eased under the landmark nuclear accord went back into effect early Tuesday under an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, targeting financial transactions that involve U.S. dollars, Iran's automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.

U.S sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank are to be reimposed in early November.

The stiff economic sanctions ratchet up pressure on the Islamic Republic despite statements of deep dismay from European allies, three months after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international accord limiting Iran's nuclear activities.

Trump declared the landmark 2015 agreement had been "horrible," leaving the Iranian government flush with cash to fuel conflict in the Middle East.

Iran accused the U.S. of reneging on the nuclear agreement, signed by the Obama administration, and of causing recent Iranian economic unrest. European allies said they "deeply regret" the U.S. action.

As the sanctions loomed Monday, Trump said in a statement, "We urge all nations to take such steps to make clear that the Iranian regime faces a choice: either change its threatening, destabilizing behaviour and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation."

Trump warned that those who don't wind down their economic ties to Iran "risk severe consequences."

The Europeans didn't like any of it.

Despite Trump's claims, the accord "is working and delivering on its goal" of limiting Iran's nuclear program, said a statement by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The ministers said the Iran deal is "crucial for the security of Europe, the region and the entire world," and the European Union issued a "blocking statute" Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of the sanctions.

A senior administration official, briefing reporters under ground rules requiring anonymity, said the United States is "not particularly concerned" by EU efforts to protect European firms from the sanctions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran still can rely on China and Russia to keep its oil and banking sectors afloat. Speaking in a television interview, he also demanded compensation for decades of American "intervention" in the Islamic Republic.

Months of uncertainty surrounding the sanctions have already further hurt Iran's economy. The country's rial currency has tanked, and the downturn has sparked protests across the nation.

The "Trump Administration wants the world to believe it's concerned about the Iranian people," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a statement posted to Twitter. But, he said, the reimposed sanctions would endanger "ordinary Iranians."

"US hypocrisy knows no bounds," he said.

U.S. officials insisted the American government stands with the people of Iran and supports many of their complaints against their own government.

National security adviser John Bolton said Iran's leadership is on "very shaky ground," but he insisted economic pressure from the Trump administration is not an attempt at "regime change."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said sanctions are an important pillar in U.S. policy toward Iran and will remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.

"They've got to behave like a normal country. That's the ask. It's pretty simple," said Pompeo, en route Sunday from a three-nation trip to Southeast Asia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a firm foe of the Iranian government, said the sanctions symbolize "the determination to block Iran's regional aggression as well as its continuous plans to arm itself with nuclear weapons."

He called on the countries of Europe to join the U.S., saying, "The time has come to stop talking; the time has come to do."

The U.S has long designated Iran as the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism, Pompeo noted Sunday, adding that the Islamic Republic cannot expect to be treated as an equal in the international community until it halts such activities.

He said that "there's no evidence today of a change in their behaviour," and in the meantime "we're going to enforce the sanctions."

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed </s> TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Saturday it won't accept any changes to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the accord in a few months if European allies did not fix its "terrible flaws."

In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Foreign Ministry said Iran "will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in future," adding that it will "not take any action beyond its commitments."

It also said Iran would not allow the deal to be linked to other issues, after Trump suggested that the sanctions relief under the deal be tied to Iran limiting its long-range ballistic missile program.

Trump on Friday extended the waivers of key economic sanctions that were lifted under the agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program. But he said he would work with European allies to remove so-called "sunset clauses" that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear activities in the next decade.

He paired Friday's concession with other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses and ballistic missile development. The Treasury Department's action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.

The Iranian statement said the targeting of one of the officials, judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, "crossed all behavioral red lines of the international community." It said the sanctions are against international law and go against U.S. commitments, saying they would bring a "strong reaction" from Iran.

The 2015 nuclear accord, reached after months of painstaking negotiations with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the accord, while Iran has accused the U.S. of failing to comply with it. The next sanctions waivers are due in May.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is extending sanctions relief for Iran one last time so Europe and the U.S. can fix the nuclear deal's "terrible flaws".