[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Trump administration imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran on November 5, 2018 aimed at zeroing oil and gas exports and announced that these sanctions would be the toughest yet on Iran. Then, Secretary Pompeo announced that eight countries would be exempted from Iran’s sanctions on humanitarian grounds, to supply food and medicine, but this exemption was temporary and would be subject to an immediate reduction of 40 to 50 percent of Iran’s oil purchase.
The Iranian regime, which was looking for an opportunity to ride on the wave of the exemptions for the eight countries on Iran’s oil purchases, used mass propaganda to induce the popular belief that the United States had failed completely in Iran’s sanctions and they would not disrupt Iran’s foreign exchange earnings.
But, according to credible reports, after November 5, the Iranian regime has been providing artificial respiration for its controlled economy by taking tens of millions of dollars from banks and injecting it into the market to absorb the shocks of the sanctions. This, of course, against a backdrop of suppressive military-police activity, including daily executions, carried out to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. |