A critical deadline is bearing down on President Trump.
By Friday he must he decide whether or not end a crucial part of the Iran nuclear deal. Sanctions against Iranian citizens and businesses were eased in exchange for adherence to what Trump calls “the worst deal ever.” The president is now pondering if those concessions should continue or not.
“The prognosis for the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 also looks fairly bleak, and the persistent threat of a U.S. sanctions snapback could curtail foreign investment in the Iranian energy sector and imperil output expansion plans,” said Helima Croft, RBC Capital Markets global head of commodity strategy.
The president has to agree to waive the sanctions against Iran every 120 to 180 days.
CNBC fears that if “Trump refuses to waive the sanctions, it could trigger the collapse of the nuclear deal and put the United States on a diplomatic collision course with France, Germany, China, Russia and the U.K., which also negotiated the accord. It could also disrupt oil supplies from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest producer, and potentially free the regime to pursue a nuclear weapon.”
Trump might have the same concerns. He’s shown a surprising reluctance to take action that would jeopardize the deal. Inked into place by Barack Obama in 2015, the deal has been excoriated by conservatives.
Still, if he wanted to demolish Obama’s legacy, “refusing to grant the waivers is Trump’s most direct path to blowing up the deal. It would reimpose far-reaching sanctions that could hobble Iran’s energy industry, sever it from the international financial system and put a chill on foreign investment into the country.”
(Source: CNBC)