Trump intends to issue an executive order to punish violators of the arms embargo on Iran

4 informed sources said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump intends to issue an executive order allowing him to impose sanctions on anyone who violates the conventional arms embargo imposed on Iran.

The sources - who asked not to be named - added that an executive order is expected to be issued in the coming days, which will allow the president to punish violators with "secondary penalties" and deny them access to the US market.

The US action is mainly due to the near end of the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations on Iran, and it is also intended to warn foreign parties that if they buy or sell weapons to Iran, they will face US sanctions.

The nuclear deal Iran signed in 2015 with 6 major powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - ends the United Nations ban on conventional weapons on October 18.

The United States, which withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018, says it has made a clause in the nuclear deal that re-imposes all UN sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo, and that it will take effect next Sunday.

No legal effect

. Other parties to the nuclear agreement and most of the members of the UN Security Council said that they do not believe that the United States has the right to re-impose UN sanctions, and that the US move in the international organization has no legal effect.

For his part, Ali Reza Mir Yousefi, spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations, said, "It is clear that none of the members of the Security Council has accepted the American allegations," adding that the nuclear agreement is still in place and that all sanctions imposed on Iran will be lifted according to the timetables agreed upon in 2015 .

While one of the four sources emphasized that the executive order seeks to show that the United States will not back down despite its failure to obtain Security Council support to reimpose sanctions.

One of the sources - a European diplomat - indicated that the new executive order will support Washington's assertion that the international arms embargo will remain in place beyond October, by giving the president the authority to impose secondary sanctions on those carrying out arms transfers to and from Iran.

It is noteworthy that secondary sanctions are those in which a country seeks to punish a second country for its trade with a third country, by preventing access to its market, which is a powerful tool in the hands of the United States due to the size of its economy.