From the Liveblog of
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Trump said planning to revive ‘maximum pressure’ strategy to ‘bankrupt’ Iran as soon as he takes office
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US President-elect Donald Trump is planning on reviving his “maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran” as soon as he takes office, according to a report citing a national security expert familiar with the Trump transition.
The Financial Times says that Trump’s transition team is preparing executive orders targeting Iran that could be issued on his first day in office, including sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
In his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers and later re-imposed sanctions on Tehran. He also ordered the killing of Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
Trump said throughout his 2024 presidential election campaign that US President Joe Biden’s policy of not rigorously enforcing oil-export sanctions has weakened Washington and emboldened Tehran.
According to the Financial Times report, the maximum pressure campaign is designed to stop Iran from being able to build up its military and continue to fund its network of proxy groups in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But the ultimate goal, the report stresses, will be to push Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.