Donald Trump’s Executive Order for Maximum Pressure Against Iran

Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for maximum pressure against Iran.

Donald Trump, President of the United States, announced on Tuesday, February 4, in an executive order titled “National Security Directive”: “The behavior of the Islamic Republic poses a threat to the national interests of the United States, and it is necessary to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian government to end its nuclear threat, limit its ballistic missile program, and stop its support for terrorist groups.”

In the preamble of this executive order, Donald Trump, while emphasizing the application of maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic, stated: “Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic, as a revolutionary government based on religion, has declared its enmity with the United States and this country’s allies.

The Islamic Republic is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and has supported groups such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist networks. The Iranian government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, uses cyber tools and methods to target U.S. citizens within the country and in other parts of the world, engaging in attacks, kidnappings, and assassinations. It has also instructed its proxy groups, including the Islamic Jihad Organization and Hezbollah, to establish sleeper cells within America and to engage in support for the Iranian government’s terrorist activities.”

In the aforementioned order, while referring to the history of the Islamic Republic’s actions against America and its allies, specific directives have been given to the Secretaries of the Treasury, State, Commerce, Justice, and the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations to apply maximum pressure against Iran.

In this executive order, the axes and political objectives of the United States regarding the Islamic Republic are stated as follows: “Preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, neutralizing the Iranian government’s network and regional aggression campaign, weakening the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxy forces and depriving them of resources that fund their destabilizing activities, countering the development of missiles and other conventional and asymmetric military capabilities of the Iranian government.”

Five specific directives given to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in this executive order are: “1. Immediate sanctions or appropriate enforcement actions against all individuals for whom there is evidence of violation of Iran-related sanctions 2. Launch a strong and sustained campaign to enforce Iran sanctions to prevent the government and its proxy forces from accessing financial resources 3. Review or revoke any general license or guidance that provides economic or financial relief to the Iranian government or its proxy forces 4. Issue new guidelines and guidance to commercial sectors including shipping, insurance, and port operators, and alert them to the risks of violating U.S. sanctions 5. Maintain measures developed in the FATF Financial Action Task Force to counter the Islamic Republic’s actions and financial oversight to prevent illegal revenue generation by the Iranian government.”

The duties that the Secretary of State must perform according to Donald Trump’s executive order are specified in four sections as follows: “1. Revoke or modify sanctions exemptions, particularly those that provide economic or financial benefits to the Iranian government, including those related to the Chabahar port project, in a manner that prevents the Islamic Republic from benefiting from the resulting advantages 2. Reduce Iranian oil exports, including to China, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Treasury 3. Lead a diplomatic campaign to isolate the Islamic Republic globally, including in international organizations 4. Prevent the Islamic Republic from using Iraq’s and Persian Gulf countries’ financial systems to circumvent sanctions.”

In the executive order issued to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, Donald Trump has requested that he, in cooperation with allies, pave the way for the return of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic. He also called for holding the Islamic Republic accountable for violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and simultaneously convening Security Council sessions to highlight the threats posed by the Islamic Republic.

The directive to the U.S. Attorney General is as follows: “1. The Attorney General is obligated to take all legal measures to identify, disrupt, and prosecute financial and logistical networks affiliated with the Iranian government 2. Seize Iranian oil shipments being transported illegally 3. Identify Iranian state assets in the United States and abroad and subject leaders and members of terrorist groups supported by the Islamic Republic to legal prosecution 4. Use all legal and cyber tools to counter espionage, foreign interference, and other threats related to the Iranian government.”

The Secretary of Commerce is also required under this executive order to launch a powerful and sustained campaign for implementing export controls to limit Iran’s access to military technologies.

Donald Trump also held the Islamic Republic responsible for Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and referred to it as “brutal massacres.” According to his statements, the Iranian government is responsible for the ongoing Houthi attacks on U.S. naval forces, this country’s allied fleet, and international commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Continuing his remarks, Donald Trump pointed to gross human rights violations by the Islamic Republic and the unlawful detention and torture of American citizens on false charges, emphasizing that the United States stands with Iranian women who have always been oppressed by the Iranian government.

He also referred to Iran’s nuclear and missile program as an existential threat to the United States and the entire civilized world, emphasizing that an extremist government like the Islamic Republic should never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons or use the threat of acquiring and using them for extortion against America and its allies.

In concluding his executive order, while referring to the Islamic Republic’s concealments and its refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the President of the United States stated: “We must block all paths for the Islamic Republic to acquire nuclear weapons and end the Iranian government’s nuclear extortion.”