When President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord with Iran back in May, there was always a second step that needed to take place. Unless a new agreement was struck, the U.S. needed to impose sanctions aimed at changing the behavior of the regime in Tehran.

Now with no new deal, those stricter sanctions are a reality. As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week, “The Iranian regime has a choice: It can either do a 180-degree turn from its outlaw course of action and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble.”

Indeed, after 19 rounds of sanctions targeting Iran’s banking, energy and shipping industries, the Iranian economy is crumbling, losing more than $2.5 billion in oil revenue since May. Protests against the regime have intensified as unemployment and inflation have increased.

The administration has promised a “laser focus” in implementing its newest sanctions, which now target more than 700 individuals and companies. Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made it clear that anyone doing business with those entities sanctioned by the U.S. will risk losing access to the international banking system known as SWIFT.

When Trump originally scuttled the nuclear deal we called it a "gamble" that "will demand clear-eyed strategic thinking and precise, steady execution." We also warned that abandoning the nuclear deal "splits the U.S. and its major European allies and exacerbates tensions with China and Russia," which had both signed on to the deal.

If anything, those tensions have increased since May and risk reaching a boiling point if not handled with a steady diplomatic hand. The U.S. has already issued China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan and South Korea “temporary exemptions” from a number of sanctions, mainly to “assure a well-supplied oil market” in those countries.

In general, we support the administration’s efforts to change the way the Islamic Republic treats its people, the way it behaves in the region, and more direct efforts to prohibit the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

It will, however, require a clear diplomatic path — forged by a resolute U.S. policy — for moderate Iranian leaders to follow. As Pompeo said this summer, “The people of Iran are tired of the corruption, injustice and incompetence from their leaders.”

Wisely, the new U.S. sanctions allow Iran to use oil revenues for humanitarian purposes, such as food and medical supplies. But that avenue could be abused, as the Iraqi “oil for food” scandal showed in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

Yet, sadly, as the Rev. Robert Sirico, a longtime human-rights advocate and president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, has said: “The worse the government, the less effective are the sanctions, precisely because despotic regimes ignore the sufferings of the people.”

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has denounced the sanctions as “psychological warfare” intended to “sow division among Iranians.” For the sake of the Iranian people and our allies in the region, let’s hope Iran’s more reasonable political, religious and economic leaders — and there are many — can usher in the changes needed to assure their country a more peaceful and prosperous future.

What's your view?