Trump revives maximum pressure campaign against Iran
US President Donald Trump has signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (‘NSPM’) restoring maximum economic pressure on Iran, signalling a return to his previous hardline policy aimed at denying Tehran nuclear weapons capability and countering its regional influence.
The memorandum directs the Treasury Secretary to ‘impose maximum economic pressure on the Government of Iran, including by sanctioning or imposing enforcement mechanisms on those acting in violation of existing sanctions,’ according to a White House fact sheet.
‘The policy of maximum pressure has already proven to be a failure, and any attempt to revive it will only lead to another defeat,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters, 5 February, the day after Trump issued his order.
The NSPM outlines several key objectives, including preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, neutralizing its terrorist networks, and countering its development of asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities.
‘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,’ Trump warned in announcing the policy.
The directive requires the State Department to review existing sanctions waivers and work with Treasury to implement measures aimed at reducing Iran’s oil exports to zero. The US Permanent Representative to the UN will also seek to restore international sanctions through the ‘snapback’ mechanism.
Additionally, the Attorney General is directed to ‘pursue all available legal steps to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute financial and logistical networks, operatives, or front groups inside the United States that are sponsored by Iran or an Iranian terror proxy.’
The move marks a return to Trump’s previous maximum pressure strategy initiated in 2018 when he withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (‘JCPOA’) nuclear deal with Iran, which included the so-called snapback mechanism. This is a provision that allows any of the participating countries to unilaterally reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if Tehran is found to be in significant non-compliance with the agreement.
Technically, the United States cannot trigger the mechanism after it pulled out of the agreement in 2018, but allies Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which were also part of the deal, have threatened to do so as recently as December.
