Dropped plans to ease Iran sanctions after Khamenei's harsh remarks: Trump

By Akayla Gardner

 

President Donald Trump said he considered easing sanctions on Iran after a ceasefire but would instead keep economic penalties on the country in place, lashing out at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for claiming victory in the war with Israel. 

“I was working on the possible removal of sanctions, and other things, which would have given a much better chance to Iran at a full, fast, and complete recovery - The sanctions are BITING!,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform Friday. “But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more.”

 

 

“Iran has to get back into the World Order flow, or things will only get worse for them,” he added. “I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR.” 

 

While Trump has been urging Iran to return to the table to resume nuclear talks, it is unclear if the administration was taking any steps to ease legal curbs on the Islamic Republic. The president appeared to hint at relief when he said China could continue to buy Iranian oil, but White House officials later indicated that didn’t mean an easing of US restrictions.

 

On Friday evening, a Democratic attempt to limit Trump’s military choices regarding Iran failed in the Senate by a vote of 53 to 47. Had it been successful, the measure, introduced by Tim Kaine of Virginia would have required congressional authorization of further US military actions against Iran.

 

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to vote for the resolution, and Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting against Kaine’s motion.

 

The president said on Wednesday that the US and Iran would talk next week and “may” sign an agreement. Tehran has denied that discussions are scheduled to resume.  

 

The 12-day war between Iran and Israel derailed a diplomatic campaign to resolve tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program. The brief conflict saw Israel target Iranian nuclear and military installations and personnel and drew the intervention of the US, which hit three atomic facilities. Trump has said the US strikes “obliterated” those sites even as questions linger over the effectiveness of the attack and the fate of Iran’s existing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

 

Khamenei on Thursday claimed that Iran had “emerged victorious and delivered a harsh slap to America’s face,” in a pre-recorded video message that marked his first comments since the ceasefire with Israel took effect earlier this week.

 

That truce has held in place despite early violations.