WASHINGTON – Iran dismissed a US offer to renegotiate a historic 2015nuclear deal signed with other major powers as President Donald Trumpreimposed crippling sanctions on Tuesday.

Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May has infuriated Europeanpartners who were determined to keep it alive and now find their businessesoperating in Iran faced with the threat of US legal penalties.

The sanctions that went into effect on Tuesday target Iranian access to USbanknotes and key economic sectors including cars and carpets.

Much of the damage has already been done, with Trump’s aggressive rhetoricfuelling a run on the rial in recent months, while worsening inflation hasstoked public protests against the government’s management of the economythat have intensified over the past week.

Most Iranians see US hostility as a basic fact of life, so theirfrustration is largely directed at their own leaders for not handling thesituation better.

“Prices have been increasing for three or four months and everything weneed has become so expensive, even before sanctions returned,” saidYasaman, a 31-year-old photographer in Tehran.

He said Iran’s leaders may need to “drink the poison cup” and negotiatewith the US.

In a statement on Monday just hours before the sanctions went back intoforce, Trump said: “The Iranian regime faces a choice. “Either change itsthreatening, destabilising behaviour and reintegrate with the globaleconomy, or continue down a path of economic isolation.

“I remain open to reaching a more comprehensive deal that addresses thefull range of the regime’s malign activities, including its ballisticmissile programme and its support for terrorism,” Trump said.

But his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani dismissed the idea of talkswhile crippling sanctions were in force.

“If you’re an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife, and thenyou say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do isremove the knife,” he told state television..

“They want to launch psychological warfare against the Iranian nation,”Rouhani said. “Negotiations with sanctions doesn’t make sense.——————————

Iran’s currency has lost around half its value since Trump announced the USwould withdraw from the nuclear pact.

But the last two days have seen an impressive 20 percent rally in the valueof the rial after the government announced new foreign exchange rules andlaunched a corruption crackdown that included the arrest of the centralbank’s currency chief.

The new rules allow unlimited tax-free currency and gold imports, andreopen exchange bureaus after a disastrous attempt to fix the value of therial in April backfired spectacularly with corrupt traders making a fortuneout of a mushrooming black market.

Iran is also taking solace in the fact that most of the world stronglyopposes Trump’s policy, with China, India and Turkey all saying they areunwilling to substantially cut purchases from Iran when the US reimposessanctions on the energy sector on November 5.

The European Union’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the blocdeeply regrets the US move.

“We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged inlegitimate business with Iran,” she said in a statement co-signed by theforeign ministers of Britain, France and Germany.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters the globalreaction to Trump’s move showed that the US was diplomatically “isolated,”but acknowledged the sanctions “may cause some disruption.”——————————

Many large European firms are leaving Iran for fear of US penalties, andTrump warned of “severe consequences” for firms and individuals thatcontinued to do business with Iran.

The US sees the sanctions “as a tool to pressure Iran to come back to thenegotiating table to rehash the nuclear deal on terms more to Trump’sliking. That is not going to happen,” said John Glaser of the CatoInstitute.

Two countries that have welcomed the tough new US policy are Iran’sregional rivals, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the renewed sanctions as”an important moment for Israel, for the US, for the region, for the wholeworld.”

There have been rumours that Trump and Rouhani could meet in New York inSeptember on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly — though Rouhanireportedly rejected US overtures for a meeting at last year’s event.

There was little word of fresh protests after days of unrest in Mashhad,Isfahan and other major cities — although verifying information remainsdifficult due to severe reporting restrictions. – APP/AFP