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By Josh Lederman, Carol E. Lee and Dan De Luce
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's latest speech in Iran reveals tensions between his key national security advisers over the scope of his "maximum pressure" campaign.
Since the withdrawal of the Iranian nuclear deal in May, Trump has publicly announced an uncompromising approach to increasing pressure on Tehran, and even tweeted Friday a stylized photo of himself in the form of a movie poster titled " Sanctions are coming ". Thus, the Iranian hawks inside and outside his government were surprised to learn that the new sanctions of the administration are well below the policy of zero tolerance, said five people were aware of the proceedings.
John Bolton, Trump's national security advisor, and members of his hawk camp have requested the fewest possible exceptions to re-impose US sanctions on Iran's lucrative oil sector, a key asset for the country struggling with economic difficulties. The Trump administration has been saying for months that all countries must completely eliminate all oil imports from Iran or be subject to US sanctions.
"Maximum pressure means maximum pressure," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.
Nevertheless, Pompeo announced that his government would grant exemptions to eight countries that had significantly reduced their imports, allowing them to continue importing Iranian oil. Pompeo said two of the eight would soon arrive at zero import but just needed more time. Pompeo refused to name the countries that had obtained exemptions, but two people informed of these exemptions told NBC News that major Asian buyers of Iranian oil – including their US allies, India and South Korea – would obtain derogations.
And despite having insisted for months that Iran be expelled from SWIFT, the world's leading financial messaging service, the Trump government has ceased to threaten sanctions unless Iran does not be totally forced to leave the system. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government is currently preparing a list of some Iranian banks that need to be removed. But he acknowledged that certain financial transactions with Iran via the system would be allowed to continue.
Even a few hours before Pompeo and Mnuchin announced the move Friday, White House officials were still unaware of the details of what would be allowed regarding oil exemptions and SWIFT, several people said. informed of the discussions. Indeed, Pompeo told reporters that negotiations with some countries on the waivers were still ongoing before the deadline of Monday.
A senior administration official rebuffed the idea that there was a disagreement between the White House, the State Department and the Treasury, saying that Trump and his National Security Council had been fully informed.
A spokesman for the National Security Council did not want to explain Bolton's view of sanctions, saying to NBC News: "We do not comment on internal deliberations." Treasury declined to comment.
Any public impression that Trump is going back on his aggressive stance towards Iran could upset the president.
Trump has made his firm stance towards Iran a feature of his foreign policy. He and Bolton have generally escaped the demands of allies such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom to allow Iran to continue to do business with foreign countries authorized by the United States. Nuclear deal signed by former President Barack Obama and the world powers.
"I do not think that this case is still closed," said Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a think tank that advocates a warmongering policy towards Iran. "When the president discovers how weak that makes him, he can order the Treasury to" take the hill ", so to speak."
Initially, Bolton was to make a public statement Friday at the camera announcing the new set of sanctions. But his appearance was canceled later. Instead, Mnuchin and Pompeo have made the announcement. It was unclear whether the change of plan for the deployment was related to Bolton's fears about future policy.
The Trump administration's perception of softening its "maximum pressure" campaign has also upset the president's traditional allies in Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S, a strong Iranian critic, said Friday that the United States should "stay strong against the Iranian regime."
"I share the concerns expressed by my colleagues about the potential" levity "of sanctions against Iran," Graham said in a statement.
In August, 16 Republican senators wrote to Mnuchin asking Iran to be totally isolated from the SWIFT system. And Senator Ted Cruz of Texas recently introduced a bill forcing the Trump administration to impose sanctions on SWIFT members if the courier system does not suspend Iran.
The sanctions against Iranian crude oil exports mark the second phase of Trump's May decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and to reimpose the sanctions that had been lifted in accordance with its terms. The first set of sanctions imposed on Iran targeted the country 's auto industry, the civil aviation sector and the trade in gold and other metals.
The administration has given countries several months to prepare for tougher sanctions against oil. Meanwhile, countries on the verge of receiving waivers have pleaded their case in front of senior Trump administration officials, arguing that a hasty reduction would destabilize global energy markets and would make raise the price of oil.
Although the US can not force SWIFT, headquartered in Belgium, to launch Iranian banks, they could threaten to impose sanctions on SWIFT board members – including key bank managers Americans – without his consent. The Trump administration wants Iranian banks removed from the system to make it more difficult for Iran to transfer funds to the country and keep its currency under siege.
But European countries and other supporters of the deal with Iran say it would be even harder to track money laundering and terrorist financing if Iran was not on the system. Europeans have even threatened to create their own alternative payment mechanism to continue their relations with Iran, which would bypass the United States and the threat of US sanctions.
Abigail Williams contributed.
