Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET
The U.S. has officially imposed what the Trump administration calls the “toughest ever” sanctions on Iran, meant to curb Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs and contain its growing influence in the Middle East. The sanctions are essentially the same ones lifted by the nuclear deal reached during the Obama administration. However, the U.S. quickly exempted several of the world’s largest economies, including China, Japan and India.
“The Iranian regime has a choice,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as he detailed the sanctions on Monday. “It can either do a 180-degree turn from its current course of action and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble.”
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