Trump signs executive order to reinstate ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to reimpose the “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, aimed at crippling the country’s oil exports.

“It’s very tough on Iran,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Despite expressing being “torn” over the decision, he added, “Hopefully we are not going to have to use it very much.”

The executive order directs the Treasury Department to enforce sanctions intended to put significant economic pressure on Iran, particularly targeting its oil industry.

The move comes ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signaling heightened tensions in U.S.-Iran relations.

In his remarks, Trump also reiterated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

‘There won’t be anything left’

When asked what would happen if Iran tried to kill him, Trump said: “It would be called total obliteration”.

“That would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated. At a beginning, I’ve left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left,” said the U.S. president.

Official form Trump’s first term believe that the policy succeeded in “reducing funds available to Tehran’s security services.”

Trump is also known for his hostile stance toward Iran, especially after his administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

The assassination of Iran’s top military commander General Qasim Soleimani in January 2020 brought the two countries to the brink of direct military confrontation.

US withdraws from UN Human Rights Council

Trump also signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The order is also slashing future funding to the Palestinian refugee agency, U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

In his first presidency, Trump pulled Washington out of the rights body, which Republican lawmakers criticized for alleged bias against Israel.

The signing occurred on the day Trump is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.