An effigy of the U.S. President Donald Trump is set on fire during an annual anti-Israeli Al-Quds, Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 8, 2018.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
The pressure on Iran’s economy since US President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal on May 8 has been more severe than originally forecast, a report said on on Tuesday.
Haaretz reported that Israeli leaders have been presented with intelligence which shows that the effects of the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal has also caused a greater rift between Iranian moderates and hardliners.
The Iranian regime’s support to Hezbollah, Assad, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza and Shi’ite militias in Syria and Iraq is estimated to cost some $1 billion annually which Iranians have begun protesting in street demonstrations across the country in light of the crippling economy.
According to Haaretz, Israeli intelligence assessed that Iran had hoped its economy would grow stronger after the 2015 nuclear deal but that it’s currently experiencing great difficulties.
However the US sanctions against companies doing business with Iran will go into effect in November and several companies doing business with the Islamic Republic have already reacted to Trump’s withdrawal, causing even greater stress to Iran’s economy.
The world’s largest aerospace company Boeing announced last week that it will not deliver aircrafts to Iran in light of US sanctions, effectively aborting a pair of large contracts with Iranian carriers.
In this Sunday, June 10, 2018, photo, released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting with a group of academics in Tehran, Iran. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP
Boeing and Airbus were among the companies to receive US Treasury licenses to begin conducting business in Iran under strict oversight after sanctions were eased.
In December 2016 the company announced an agreement to sell 80 aircraft valued at $16.6 billion to Iran Air. Boeing also announced a contract in April 2017 to sell Iran Aseman Airlines 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for $3 billion, with purchase rights for another 30 aircraft.
Nike also announced that it was cancelling a deal with Iran’s national soccer team to deliver cleats to the team before the World Cup in Russia.
In Europe, a partnership to deep-sea drill off the Scottish coast between an Iranian oil company and British Petroleum was also cancelled following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
France, Germany, Britain issued a joint official request to the US last week demanding that their firms be exempt from sanctions.
“As allies, we expect that the United States will refrain from taking action to harm Europe’s security interests,” said the letter to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Analysts say European firms which have rushed to invest in Iran after the lifting of sanctions over the past three years have the most to lose from the renewed sanctions.
Iran is still hoping to save the nuclear deal with the remaining signatories, but it has also warned that it will start enriching uranium again soon if an agreement is not reached.
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