On Thursday, the US treasury department blacklisted 18 major Iranian banks in the latest assault as part of its so-called maximum pressure campaign against the country

The US is considering issuing an executive order within days which will threaten secondary sanctions against countries or firms buying or selling arms from and to Iran

Delegates from Iran, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany said the deal was a key component in the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture. They also rejected US bids to trigger snapback sanctions

The admissibility of the notice submitted by Pompeo last week was questioned by 13 out of 15 members of the UNSC. Even US allies have pointed out that having left the deal in 2018, it cannot ask for sanctions

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the end of exemptions provided under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to some foreign companies to work on certain Iranian nuclear sites. The waiver was renewed every 60 days despite the unilateral US withdrawal from the deal in 2018

Iran had requested a USD 5 billion emergency loan from the IMF last month to help its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The US claims the money will be used to fund terrorism in the region

The deal was for the supply of medical equipment to Iran. INSTEX was devised in 2018 by Germany, France and the UK as a special purpose vehicle to bypass the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US

Several countries have appealed to the Trump administration to lift the existing sanctions against Iran to enable the government to fight the Coronavirus outbreak in the country

The announcement comes after the UK, France and Germany proposed the invocation of the dispute settlement mechanism in the UNSC – a move that Iran alleges is based on US diktats

Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the decision by three major European countries to activate the conflict resolution mechanism for the Iran nuclear deal which could lead to further sanctions on Iran.

Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said that Germany, France and the UK, which are signatories to the deal, had failed to provide necessary safeguards to Iran against the illegal sanctions imposed by the US

Political analyst Aijaz Ahmad talks about the gaps in the US approach towards Iran — both in terms of policy and personnel — that have led to a war-like situation in the region.