Biden Weighs Easing Iran’s Pain Without Lifting Key Sanctions
- Options include supporting an IMF loan for coronavirus aid
- Trump administration’s terror designation could hinder efforts
One of the biggest challenges the new administration faces is the wave of sanctions Trump imposed late in his administration targeting Iran over its sponsorship of terrorism.
Photographer: Carlos Barria/AFP/Getty Images
The Biden administration is weighing ways to ease Iran’s financial pain without lifting crushing economic sanctions -- including on oil sales -- as a step toward reviving the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump.
Some options U.S. officials are debating include providing backing for International Monetary Fund lending to Tehran for coronavirus relief and easing up on sanctions that have stymied international coronavirus aid from getting into Iran, according to four people familiar with the administration’s thinking. Such moves could be justified on humanitarian grounds.