US President Donald
Trump said on Thursday,
all American
sanctions
against
will
be
in
full
force
on November
5, as he signed into law another legislation imposing hard-hitting
sanctions
on Lebanese militant group
Hezbollah.
"
On November 5th,
all
US
sanctions
against
Iran lifted by the nuclear deal
will
be
back
in
full
force, every sanction that we had
on their originally, which would have if they would have just left it a little bit longer, would have been so much easier than what we've been through over the last number of years,"
Trump said at a White House event.
After withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal,
Trump has asked
all countries to reduce their purchase of oil from
Iran to zero or face secondary
sanctions.
India, being one of the largest importers of Iranian oil, also comes under the purview of American
sanctions. To avoid this, India either needs a waiver from the
US or has to bring down the purchase of Iranian oil to zero.
Trump said these
sanctions
will
be followed up with even more
sanctions to address the
full range of
Iran's "malign conduct". "We
will not allow the world's leading sponsor of terror to develop the world's deadliest weapons.
Will not happen" he said.
Moments earlier,
Trump signed into law the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act (HIFPAA) of 2018, which imposes additional hard-hitting
sanctions
on Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah has kidnapped, tortured and murdered American citizens, including
in its brutal attack
in 1983
on our Marine Barracks
in Beirut,
Lebanon which killed 241 American Marines, Sailors and Soldiers, wounded 128 other American service members and killed a Lebanese civilian.
"Another bombing
against the French barracks killed 58 French peacekeepers and five Lebanese civilians, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The legislation, Sanders said,
will further isolate Hezbollah from the international financial system and reduce its funding.
These
sanctions
will target foreign persons and government agencies that knowingly assist or support Hezbollah, and Hezbollah-affiliated networks that engage
in drug trafficking or other transnational crime, she said.
During a White House event on Thursday night to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the attack
in Beirut
on the Marine Barracks with survivors and family members of the victims,
Trump said over the past year, his administration has levied the highest number of
sanctions ever imposed
on Hezbollah
in a single year, by far.
"Just a few moments ago I signed legislation imposing even more hard-hitting
sanctions
on Hezbollah to further starve them of their funds. And they are starving of funds," he said.
"We
will target, disrupt, and dismantle their operational and financing networks of which they had plenty. They don't have plenty now. And we
will never forget what they did to our great Marines
in Beirut. We
will never forget," the
US President said.