US Says Will Extend Sanctions Waivers for Iran Nuclear Programs

“I think the idea here is we are watching those nuclear activities very, very closely,” Bolton said in an interview on Fox Business Network. “So this is a short 90-day extension,” he said.

Bolton’s comments came hours after Washington imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a key figure in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which President Donald Trump withdrew from last year.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in early May extended five of seven sanctions waivers for 90 days, a shorter period than earlier waivers. The waivers allow work at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant, the Fordow enrichment facility, the Arak nuclear complex and the Tehran Research Reactor.

Wendy Sherman, who served as undersecretary of state under former President Barack Obama and was the lead US negotiator for the nuclear agreement, linked the action against Zarif to the sanctions waivers.

“For a president who says he is ready to talk with Iran without preconditions, sanctioning the foreign minister of Iran clearly undermines that objective and risks dangerous escalation instead,” said Sherman, who is director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

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