Trump Reportedly Considered Easing Iran Sanctions to Set Up Meeting With Iranian President
President Donald Trump discussed removing sanctions on Iran to help schedule a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani later this month, Bloomberg reported Sept. 11. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in favor of the move as a way to restart negotiations with Iran, the report said, but then-National Security Adviser John Bolton argued against it. Bolton resigned one day later.
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The Trump administration will not deviate from its maximum-pressure sanctions campaign on Iran after Bolton’s departure, Mnuchin said while speaking to reporters Sept. 10. “I would say Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo and myself and the president are completely aligned on our maximum pressure campaign,” Mnuchin said, speaking alongside Pompeo. “I think you know we’ve done more sanctions on Iran than anybody. And it’s absolutely working.”
Mnuchin and Pompeo both said Trump may meet with Rouhani later this month. “The President has made very clear he is prepared to meet with no preconditions,” Pompeo said.
Mnuchin declined to say if the U.S.’s sanctions strategy on Venezuela will now change, but suggested the sanctions will remain. “I think you know that the Treasury Department and the State Department have been incredibly active on sanctions,” Mnuchin said. As to the question of U.S. pressure on Venezuela post-Bolton, he added that “we are concerned about the people there and what’s going on, the humanitarian crisis.”