UPDATE - Trump extends Iran sanctions relief for final time

RECASTS HEADLINE TO REFLECT NEW DETAILS THROUGHOUT

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump on Friday extended sanctions relief on Iran for what he said would be the final time.

Trump said in a statement that he is doing so "only in order to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal.

"This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately," Trump said in an unusually lengthy statement.

An official who spoke to reporters on condition he not be named said Trump "intends to work with our European partners on some kind of follow-on agreement" to the nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers, including the U.S. in 2015.

The deal placed widespread curbs on Iran's nuclear program and subjected it to an inspections regime hailed at the time as "unprecedented" by U.S. officials. In exchange, Iran received billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Trump wants it to include "certain triggers" related to Iran's ballistic missile program and its nuclear breakout timeline in the new agreement, and wants to remove the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action's "sunset clause", which envisions the lifting of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in 2025.

The U.S. further sanctioned 14 Iranian individuals and entities Friday for what the Treasury Department called "serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran, and support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators.”

Among those blacklisted is the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani.