By Struan Stevenson <\/p>\n\n\n\n
April 25 (UPI) \u2014\u00a0U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s decision to cancel the temporary waivers that had enabled countries like Iraq, Turkey, India, Japan and China to continue purchasing Iranian oil without breaching U.S. sanctions has hammered the final nail into the mullahs\u2019 coffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Mike Pompeo<\/a>\u00a0explained that the decision had been taken to \u201cdeprive the outlaw regime of the funds it has used to destabilize the Middle East.\u201d The U.S. administration\u2019s goal is to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero. Coming on top of Trump\u2019s unilateral withdrawal from\u00a0Barack Obama<\/a>\u2018s failed nuclear deal and the re-imposition of tough sanctions against the theocratic dictatorship, the Iranian economy was already in free-fall, with the rial collapsing and inflation soaring against a background of nationwide protests, which have continued on a near-daily basis for the past 16 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n