It's Crunch Time for Trump Versus the World on Iran Sanctions

In the six months since President Donald Trump quit the Iran nuclear deal, he’s been demanding that Tehran -- and the rest of the world -- bend to his will. Come Monday morning, he’ll see how that plan is working out.

Nov. 5 is the day when sweeping U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking sectors go back into effect after Trump’s decision in May to walk away from the six-nation deal with Iran that suspended them. The deadline is the culmination of a campaign by Trump’s team to drive companies out of Iran’s markets, and early indications are they can claim at least a partial victory.

Iran’s oil exports already have fallen by about a million barrels, and countries including India and South Korea are said to have reached agreements with the U.S. to cut back purchases. Total SA, Boeing Co. and Munich Re are among dozens of companies that have sworn off Iran’s market.

The American president’s goal is to inflict so much economic pain that Iran abandons its nuclear program permanently and also quits what his administration calls its “malign activity” in the region and beyond. He’s vowed to exploit the U.S. financial system’s global reach to ensure other countries fall into line or risk being barred from the vastly bigger U.S. economy.

Read the full article and more in Bloomberg.