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Miami, FL – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today issued a statement after the Trump administration announced the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known also as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal:

“I look forward to working with the Trump administration to ensure the United States imposes maximum pressure against the authoritarian Iranian regime’s support for terrorism, nuclear and missile programs, regional aggression, and egregious human rights abuses. More must be done to press the SWIFT financial messaging service to once again sever connections with the Central Bank of Iran and other sanctioned Iranian banks by a certain date. Sanctions waivers being given to key purchasers of Iranian oil, most alarmingly China, give Iran a financial reprieve, and should be eliminated as soon as possible. I also urge the United States not to waive any sanctions aimed at penalizing foreign individuals, entities, or governments engaged in civil nuclear cooperation with Iran. Maximum pressure means not only restoring all of the sanctions measures that President Obama had wrongly suspended under the flawed Iran nuclear deal, but also going further to expand sanctions on the regime in Tehran.”

Background:

• On May 8, 2018, ahead of the United States’ withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Rubio penned an op-ed outlining the flaws of the deal and urging the president to withdraw from it.
• On July 26, 2018, Rubio and several Senate colleagues sent a letter to the ambassadors of the EU3 – Britain, France, and Germany – calling on their governments to deepen Transatlantic cooperation against Iran and warning against efforts to evade U.S. sanctions.
• On August 22, 2018, Rubio and several Senate colleagues sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commending the Treasury Department for reimposing a wave of sanctions on the Iranian regime and affirming Congressional support for the department’s maximum pressure campaign.