BY KAMBAIZ RAFI
For the US, it makes more sense to allow India to continue developing Chabahar port than for China to 'hijack' yet another strategically important port
The Donald Trump administration is reconsidering plans to compel the international financial messaging network SWIFT to cut off Iranian banks amid push-back from European allies. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Trump administration is holding internal discussions that indicate that the United States may relent on its pressure on the Belgium-based network ahead of the reimposition of sanctions on Iran’s oil industry next month. SWIFT sanctions on Iran were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the United States withdrew from in May. Read More
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged Monday that his country would not buckle under the weight of newly re-imposed U.S. sanctions, calling the penalties on its oil and banking sectors “unfair” and “against the law, U.N. resolutions and international accords.” – Politico
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he wants to impose sanctions on Iran’s oil gradually, citing concerns about shocking energy markets and causing global price spikes. – Reuters
President Trump will let countries helping to overhaul three Iranian nuclear facilities escape sanctions that have been reimposed as part of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, the State Department confirmed Monday. – Washington Examiner
Michael Rubin writes: The basis of President Trump’s strategy on Iran is to coerce change through economic warfare. There are reasons to agree or disagree with Trump’s pull-out from the Iran nuclear deal, but to argue either that Tehran is impervious to pressure or that trade with Iran provides the best path to moderation are both false. – Washington Examiner
Stephanie Segal writes: The immediate impacts of sanctions on the Iranian economy are apparent–oil production and GDP growth are collapsing, Iran’s currency is weakening, and inflation is picking up. Longer-term impacts remain to be seen, including how partner countries adapt to forceful unilateral action by the United States and the role of the dollar as the world’s preeminent reserve currency. – Center for Strategic & International Studies