Trump administration planning new Iran sanctions

The Trump administration is planning to roll out new targeted sanctions on Iran as soon as Friday, multiple sources tell CBS News.

The sanctions will target foreign entities that have helped Iran with its ballistic missile program, but they are not believed to be a violation of the Obama-era international deal to freeze Iran’s nuclear program. Although President Trump has publicly criticized that deal, European diplomats say they have been informed that Mr. Trump has agreed to honor it.

But earlier this week, Mr. Trump said on camera at the start of a meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister that “nobody knows why” his predecessor agreed to the deal which was also co-signed by Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. “One of the things I did ask is, ‘why did President Obama sign that agreement with Iran?’ because nobody has been able to figure that one out,” Mr. Trump said.

This will be the second set of U.S. sanctions on Iran since Mr. Trump took office. In February, now-former NSA Michael Flynn said the U.S. was putting Iran “on notice” about its missile tests. Flynn also critized Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East particularly in Yemen. The Trump Administration quickly triggered sanctions that had been lined up by the outgoing Obama team.

On Thursday, there was also a bill introduced in the Senate to roll out sanctions on Iran in regard to its ballistic missile development, support for terrorism, transfers of weapons and human rights violations.