Why Trump's Sanctions on Iran Carry So Much Force

Few things in Donald Trump’s foreign policy have been more consistent than his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal the U.S. reached with that country and five other nations in 2015. He campaigned against it while running for president, complained about it regularly during his first year in office and finally pulled the U.S. out of it in May 2018. Now, Trump is gradually reimposing sanctions that were frozen by the agreement, threatening to penalize even close allies if they keep doing business with Iran. That’s undermining Iran’s economy and raising the pressure on President Hassan Rouhani, who pushed hard for the nuclear accord.

Despite broad international support for the accord, Trump and his allies said the agreement -- which eased economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program -- never addressed what they see as Iran’s malign behavior in the Middle East, its support for terrorism or its ballistic missile program. Trump wants a new, tougher deal.