JERUSALEM—The Trump administration is looking to ratchet up pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear program, going beyond previous international sanctions, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday.
“We’re not just going to stop at where the sanctions were in 2015, our goal, our objective really is essentially we’d like to say no waivers to the sanctions,” Mr. Bolton said while talking to reporters at the end of two days of meetings with Israeli officials. He next travels to Geneva to meet with his Russian counterpart.
Mr. Trump in May withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, a multilateral pact that freed Iran from international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Washington earlier this month slapped Iran with sanctions targeting its trade of gold and other precious metals, its car industry and the purchase of U.S. dollars. The U.S. is expected to impose tougher sanctions on Iran’s oil sales and banking sector in November.
Historically, U.S. administrations have given companies waivers to deal with Iran under certain circumstances, including trade in medical and humanitarian goods. Those exceptions remain in place despite the new sanctions, but other permissions allowing companies to trade with Iran through foreign subsidiaries are to be removed in November.
Mr. Bolton said the first wind-down period has ended, with the U.S. only granting two “very limited” sanctions waivers in a bid to show that the administration is pushing tough enforcement. A spokesman for Mr. Bolton declined to say who had received those waivers as the information hasn't been released.
President Trump’s security adviser said the U.S. sanctions put in place so far have affected Iran’s ability to operate in the Middle East and that the U.S. and Israel are consulting on more sanctions and other ways to pressure Iran. Mr. Bolton said one focus is finding alternative oil sources for countries that have been purchasing from Iran.
For Iran, though, the impact of sanctions mostly has been economic. Even before Mr. Trump’s exit from the nuclear deal, Iran was grappling with rising inflation, high unemployment and a currency weakening against the dollar at a record pace. Waves of popular unrest centered around the currency and the stagnant economy have rippled across Iran since late December.
With the coming sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, analysts at the London-based BMI Research expect economic growth to slow to 1.8% this year and contract by 4.3% next year.
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While the sanctions have piled pressure on Iran’s embattled leaders, there is less evidence that they have changed the country’s military posture in the Middle East—a goal Mr. Trump has said the nuclear deal failed to accomplish.
Iranian forces—including the Quds Force, a unit of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—are still active in Syria’s military conflict, helping support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad despite U.S. calls for them to leave. A United Nations panel of experts also recently found evidence of Iranian components being used in ballistic missiles that Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired at Saudi Arabia, which Tehran’s opponents contend is proof of Iran’s deep involvement in a more than three-year-old war. Iran denies arming the Houthis.
Cornered economically by the U.S. sanctions, Iran has often sought to gain an advantage against its adversaries in other areas. On Tuesday, Facebook took down 652 pages and accounts originating in Iran for what it called “coordinated inauthentic behavior” advancing the interests of the Iranian government. Twitter also announced suspending 284 accounts, many of which it said appeared to originate in Iran, also for “coordinated manipulation.”
“Such claims are ridiculous and are part and parcel of U.S. public calls for regime change in Iran, and are an abuse of social media platforms,” said Alireza Miryousefi, the head of the press office at Iran’s United Nations mission.
Mr. Bolton met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and other officials during his visit. He said his discussions focused largely on the nuclear threat posed by Iran. They also focused on Iran’s presence in Syria, a shared concern for Israel and the U.S.
Mr. Bolton said Israel’s continued strikes on Iranian targets in Syria are “a legitimate act of self-defense” and he said also that the U.S. would continue to target Mr. Assad if he uses chemical weapons, including in Idlib—the opposition’s last stronghold in the country—where the U.S. fears he will use them as part of a fresh offensive.
“If the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very strongly,” he said.
President Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, is tightening his grip on the entire country as he emerges victorious from the more than seven-year civil conflict at home.
Mr. Bolton said Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Trump that Russian and Iranian interests in Syria aren’t aligned, “and that he would be content to see Iranian forces all sent back to Iran.”
“He said I can’t do it myself,” Mr. Bolton added. The national-security adviser said he thought Mr. Putin may have been pressing joint U.S.-Russian efforts to pull Iran back.
Israeli officials have been pushing Russia to use its influence to force Iranian forces out of Syria. So far, Israel and Russia have an agreement to keep Iranian forces tens of kilometers from the Israeli border, though Iranian forces remain active throughout Syria.
—Asa Fitch in Dubai contributed to this article.
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com