Trump faces Iran sanctions challenge
The US administration must win over sceptical European and Asian allies to make oil sanctions bite as hard as last time
President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement on Tuesday, in a widely expected move that threatens to knock hundreds of thousands of barrels a day out of the oil market and ratchet up tensions across the Middle East. Brent oil prices have surged around 10% over the past month, to over $76 as of 9 May, amid overt signals from Trump that he'd be pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—as the Iranian nuclear deal is known—ahead of the 12 May deadline to waive sanctions relief. Trump called for the "highest level" of sanctions on Iran in his White House address, including sanctions on crude purchases and investments in the country's energy sector. While Tru
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