In his defense, Richard Grenell said his tweet instructing German companies to "wind down operations immediately" in Iran was just following "White House talking points."
"We're certainly going to be pushing and asking and cajoling them to disinvest, absolutely," State Department official Andrew Peek tells NPR. The U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.
Reaction was mixed, with Barack Obama calling the move "misguided," Israel praising the president, and Iran and France, Britain and Germany considering the next step.
Ahead of the announcement Tuesday, a look at what the sanctions do, what a U.S. pullout would mean and how Iran could react. European allies warn that Iran could renew nuclear weapons development.
Obama foreign policy adviser Colin Kahl was reportedly targeted by the Israeli company Black Cube: "It's especially awful that they not only went after me, but that they went after my family."
As President Trump considers withdrawing from the Iran accord, Israel says files show Iran concealed its nuclear ambitions. But the U.K., France and Germany say they always knew that — hence the deal.
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Brian Hook, the U.S. diplomat who is leading negotiations with the Europeans over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to make it more palatable to the Trump administration.