US President Donald Trump issued a warning to international businesses on Tuesday, saying those working with Iran would be barred from trading with the United States.
Hours after a midnight deadline came into effect for a set of first-phase US sanctions, the president took to Twitter to state “the most biting” measures ever imposed were on the way. The announcement came 90 days after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal but were met with European counter-measures designed to keep commercial links with Iran.
“Anyone doing business with Iran will not be doing business with the United States,” the US leader announced.
Yet the US leader accompanied the message with a renewed invite to his Iranian opposite number Hassan Rouhani to meet to discuss ways out of the confrontation. "I am asking for world peace, nothing less," he added.
The beleaguered Iranian leader is facing riots over corruption, food shortages, a collapsing currency and fast-rising inflation. The pair have traded insults directly since last month when Mr Trump threatened "consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever seen". Mr Rouhani responded, "war with Iran is the mother of all wars".
Speaking on state television, Mr Rouhani dismissed Mr Trump’s offer. "If you're an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife, and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," he said. "They want to launch psychological warfare against the Iranian nation. Negotiations with sanctions doesn't make sense."
John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, said the sanctions move was designed to put pressure on Iran to retreat from its support for international terrorism, military operations across the Middle East and a ballistic missile build-up.
Mr Bolton said Iran's leadership is on "very shaky ground," while also insisting economic pressure was not designed to overturn the government. "The policy is not regime change but we definitely want to put maximum pressure on the government," Mr Bolton said on Fox News. "The implications are already pretty profound. They’ll grow more profound in November."
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Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, has said behavioural change was Washington’s top priority in the setting a new policy direction. "They've got to behave like a normal country. That's the ask. It's pretty simple," he said.
The European countries ring-fenced their companies from any fallout from the sanctions move, adopting a new regulation to block sanctions enforcement.
The EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini promised the EU "blocking statute" against US legal action would protect European companies that maintained connections with Iran.
"The European Union's updated Blocking Statute enters into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions," said a joint statement by Ms Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain.
Brussels is negotiating with Iran on other measures that would ensure it continues to abide by the deal and not resume its nuclear programme. "We want to show that we are still committed to the Iran agreement," a senior EU official said.
An impending second round of sanctions goes far beyond the dollar purchases, gold trade and auto parts targeted on Tuesday. These will restrict shipping and the oil and petrochemical trade with Iran from November 4.
On the streets of Iran, the pressure on the economy is already telling with economists predicting a 4 per cent plus drop in economic growth in 2018. "I feel like my life is being destroyed. Sanctions are already badly affecting people's lives. I can't afford to buy food, pay the rent," a Tehran construction worker said.
China and Russia, the other key parties to the 2015 deal, have also rejected the US move against Iran with Beijing earlier this month rebuffing a US plea to cut its oil orders.
China is Iran’s biggest customer for its exports and is the world’s top crude buyer. The country has seen a steady rise in the oil volumes it buys from Iran. The figure rose 26 per cent in July alone as Beijing absorbed more than one-third of Iran’s exports.
Global oil prices rose on Tuesday on concern sanctions could cut world supply, although the toughest measures targeting Iran's oil exports do not take effect for four more months. Brent crude oil futures were up 75 cents to $74.50 per barrel.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Mozn
Started: 2017
Founders: Mohammed Alhussein, Khaled Al Ghoneim, Abdullah Alsaeed and Malik Alyousef
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Industry: FinTech
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Raed Ventures, Shorooq Partners, VentureSouq, Sukna Ventures and others
More on animal trafficking
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SUCCESSION SEASON 4 EPISODE 1
Created by: Jesse Armstrong
Stars: Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Nicholas Braun
Rating: 4/5
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
UAE athletes heading to Paris 2024
Equestrian
Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi, Abdullah Al Marri, Omar Al Marzooqi, Salem Al Suwaidi, and Ali Al Karbi (four to be selected).
Judo
Men: Narmandakh Bayanmunkh (66kg), Nugzari Tatalashvili (81kg), Aram Grigorian (90kg), Dzhafar Kostoev (100kg), Magomedomar Magomedomarov (+100kg); women's Khorloodoi Bishrelt (52kg).
Cycling
Safia Al Sayegh (women's road race).
Swimming
Men: Yousef Rashid Al Matroushi (100m freestyle); women: Maha Abdullah Al Shehi (200m freestyle).
Athletics
Maryam Mohammed Al Farsi (women's 100 metres).
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
The US Congress, explained
- US Congress is divided into two chambers: the House of Representatives and Senate
- 435 members make up the House, and 100 in the Senate
- A party needs control of 218 seats to have a majority in the House
- In the Senate, a party needs to hold 51 seats for control
- In the event of a 50-50 split, the vice president's party retains power in the Senate
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
TO CATCH A KILLER
Director: Damian Szifron
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Ralph Ineson
Rating: 2/5
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
Specs: 2024 McLaren Artura Spider
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 and electric motor
Max power: 700hp at 7,500rpm
Max torque: 720Nm at 2,250rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
0-100km/h: 3.0sec
Top speed: 330kph
Price: From Dh1.14 million ($311,000)
On sale: Now
Getting there
Etihad Airways flies daily to the Maldives from Abu Dhabi. The journey takes four hours and return fares start from Dh3,995. Opt for the 3am flight and you’ll land at 6am, giving you the entire day to adjust to island time.
Round trip speedboat transfers to the resort are bookable via Anantara and cost $265 per person.
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a+£60,000 watch.
- James+‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars