The Trump administration threatened Wednesday to impose an array of fresh sanctions to deter China and Russia from selling weapons to Iran after an arms embargo on Washington’s Middle East foe expires next month.
Elliott Abrams, the administration’s special envoy for Iran and Venezuela, told reporters that the sanctions “will have a very significant impact” on arms manufacturers and traders that seek to do business with Tehran. Details of the sanctions will be made public Monday, he said.
The administration’s stance has been viewed skeptically by some former government sanctions officials who say that China and Russia are likely to refrain from shipping arms to Iran as they wait to see whether Mr. Trump is re-elected, and that some of the new U.S. sanctions may be duplicative.
The administration’s plan for new sanctions is the latest twist in its Iran policy, which has left the U.S. isolated on that issue in the United Nations Security Council and at odds with some of its closest European allies.
At first, U.S. officials sought to persuade the U.N. Security Council to extend an international arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire on Oct. 18 and which was part of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.