US President Donald Trump on Tuesday restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero. It directs the Secretary of State to “modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers and cooperate with the Secretary of Treasury to implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.”
Trump signed the presidential memorandum reimposing Washington’s tough policy on Iran that was practiced throughout his first term.
Trump’s memo, among other things, orders the US Treasury secretary to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions.
The Treasury Secretary will also issue guidance for all relevant business sectors, including shipping, insurance, and port operators, about the risks to any person that “knowingly violates U.S. sanctions with respect to Iran or an Iranian terror proxy,” the White House said in its statement.
During the announcement of the new maximum pressure campaign, the White House said that the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations will work with key allies to complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
Moreover, on Tuesday, Trump announced the reinstatement of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, what he called a strategy aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In 2020, President Trump declared that “as long as [he is] President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
“For far too long-all the way back to 1979, to be exact-nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond. Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen,” reads the statement of the White House.
