Trump: US open to new Iran deal

President Trump on Friday evening reasserted his openness to reaching a new Iran deal, days before the U.S. is set to reimpose a final set of sanctions on Tehran.

The sanctions are set to go into effect on Monday, marking the U.S.’s full departure from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump first announced his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Obama-era deal in May.

{mosads}”The United States remains open to reaching a new, more comprehensive deal with Iran that forever blocks its path to a nuclear weapon, addresses the entire range of its malign actions, and is worthy of the Iranian people,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House.

Trump said he left the “horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal” in order to pressure the Iranian government to end its “malign actions” in the Middle East, but continued to express support for its people.

“I want to be clear that United States actions are aimed at the regime and its threatening behavior—not at the long-suffering Iranian people,” the president said in the statement. 

Iranian leaders and critics in the U.S. have raised concerns that the sanctions are going to harm Iranian workers, who are likely to be hit the hardest. 

“Our objective is to force the regime into a clear choice: either abandon its destructive behavior or continue down the path toward economic disaster,” Trump said. 

In addition to sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, Monday’s sanctions will target Iran’s shipping, shipbuilding and financial sectors.