Trump reimposes 'maximum pressure' on Iran, aims to drive oil exports to zero

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump connected Tuesday restored his "maximum pressure" run connected Iran that includes efforts to thrust its lipid exports down to zero successful bid to halt Tehran from obtaining a atomic weapon.

Ahead of his gathering with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump signed the statesmanlike memorandum reimposing Washington's pugnacious argumentation connected Iran that was practiced passim his archetypal term.

As helium signed the memo, Trump described it arsenic precise pugnacious and said helium was torn connected whether to marque the move. He said helium was unfastened to a woody with Iran and expressed a willingness to speech to the Iranian leader.

"With me, it's precise simple: Iran cannot person a atomic weapon," Trump said. Asked however adjacent Tehran is to a weapon, Trump said: "They're excessively close."

Iran's ngo to the United Nations successful New York did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Iran is accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, adjacent to the astir 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. atomic watchdog main told Reuters successful December. Iran has denied wanting to make a atomic weapon.

Trump's memo, among different things, orders the U.S. Treasury caput to enforce "maximum economical pressure" connected Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms connected those violating existing sanctions.

It besides directs the Treasury and State Department to instrumentality a run aimed astatine "driving Iran's lipid exports to zero." U.S. lipid prices pared losses connected Tuesday connected the quality that Trump planned to motion the memo.

Tehran's lipid exports brought successful $53 cardinal successful 2023 and $54 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. Output during 2024 was moving astatine its highest level since 2018, based connected OPEC data.

Trump had driven Iran's lipid exports to near-zero during portion of his archetypal word aft re-imposing sanctions. They roseate nether Biden's tenure arsenic Iran succeeded successful evading sanctions.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency believes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and different OPEC members person spare capableness to marque up for immoderate mislaid exports from Iran, besides an OPEC member.

China does not admit U.S. sanctions and Chinese firms bargain the astir Iranian oil. China and Iran person besides built a trading strategy that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a web of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and vulnerability to U.S. regulators.

Kevin Book, an expert astatine ClearView Energy, said the Trump medication could enforce the 2024 Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) instrumentality to curtail immoderate Iranian barrels.

SHIP, which the Biden medication did not enforce strictly, allows measures connected overseas ports and refineries that process petroleum exported from Iran successful usurpation of sanctions. Book said a determination past period by the Shandong Port Group to prohibition U.S.-sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports successful the eastbound Chinese state signals the interaction SHIP could have.

Trump besides directed his U.N. ambassador to enactment with allies to "complete the snapback of planetary sanctions and restrictions connected Iran," nether a 2015 woody betwixt Iran and cardinal satellite powers that lifted sanctions connected Tehran successful instrumentality for restrictions connected its atomic program.

Britain, France and Germany told the United Nations Security Council successful December that they are acceptable — if indispensable — to trigger a snapback of each planetary sanctions connected Iran to forestall the state from acquiring a atomic weapon.

They volition suffer the quality to instrumentality specified enactment connected October 18 erstwhile a 2015 U.N. solution expires. The solution enshrines Iran's woody with Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China that lifted sanctions connected Tehran successful speech for restrictions connected its atomic program.

Iran's U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, has said that invoking the "snap-back" of sanctions connected Tehran would beryllium "unlawful and counterproductive."

European and Iranian diplomats met successful November and January to sermon if they could enactment to defuse determination tensions, including implicit Tehran's atomic program, earlier Trump returned.