Trump threatens Iran oil sanctions after next round of indirect talks postponed

Los Angeles, May 2 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has reissued threats against Iran, saying any country or person that buys oil or petrochemicals from Iran would face immediate US sanctions, after the indirect talks between the two countries were postponed.

“All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions,” Trump wrote on Thursday on Truth Social.

“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

Trump implemented what he calls a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran since taking office in January, including tougher sanctions on oil exports and threats of military action, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump’s comments came after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday that the fourth round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, scheduled for Saturday in Rome, had been postponed at the mediator Oman’s proposal.

Baghaei reaffirmed Iran’s determination to use diplomacy to safeguard the nation’s “legitimate and legal” interests and to end the sanctions and economic pressure against Iran.

Earlier in the day, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi announced on social media platform X that the fourth round of the Iran-US talks scheduled for Saturday had been postponed for “logistical reasons,” adding, “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3,” he wrote.

“New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate.

Rome will see the Vatican begin its conclave next week to pick a new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Two other rounds of US-Iran talks have been held in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on a half-century of enmity. The negotiations have been led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

The US President with his threat on social media would be going after Iran’s major economic resource. It produced an average of 2.9 million barrels a day in 2023 of crude oil, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran’s program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the US continues an airstrike campaign, called “Operation Rough Rider,” that has been targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who long have been backed by Iran. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on early Thursday warned Iran over the rebels.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” he wrote.

“You know very well what the US Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Last Saturday’s round of talks, which included experts drilling down into the details of a possible deal, also took place as an explosion rocked an Iranian port, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

–IANS

int/khz