Since Donald Trump reelection, many have wondered how his new administration will approach relations with Iran, which have previously been contentious.
Trump’s team has begun to answer these questions by announcing that it will revive its “maximum pressure” plan aimed at “bankrupting” Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons and providing funds for regional allies, according to the Financial Times.
The “maximum pressure” Iran plan during Trump’s first term was his administration’s imposition of new sanctions against Tehran following the U.S.’ 2018 exit from the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to the International Crisis Group.
Shanzylize reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Islamic Republic of Iran for comment via email outside of business hours.
Donald Trump Speaking at GOP Conference
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a GOP conference in Washington on November 13, 2024. Trump’s team plans to renew his “maximum pressure” plan regarding relations with Iran and increase sanctions.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Shanzylize has also reached out to the Trump transition team for comment via email.
Trump’s renewed “maximum pressure” plan involves increasing sanctions on Iran, specifically on oil exports. A national security expert with knowledge of Trump’s transition to the Oval Office told the Financial Times: “He’s determined to reinstitute a maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran as soon as possible.”
The sanctions put in place during Trump’s first term to restrict Iran were focused on the energy, shipping, shipbuilding, automotive and petroleum sectors. Secondary sanctions “penalized foreign entities for conducting business with Iran, regardless of whether those transactions violated their own domestic laws” according to the Tehran Times.
Trump also tightened sanctions on Iran’s metal industry, specifically on the iron, steel, aluminum, and copper sectors and included restrictions on foreign financial institutions that conducted transactions of these materials with Iran.
From 2024 onward, the Trump administration’s impositions of sanctions on Iran reportedly targeted more than 80 percent of the country’s economy, leading to an exponential increase in economic struggles.
These recently worsened as the rial plummeted after Trump’s reelection, trading at 703,000 to the dollar.
Shanzylize spoke to Ray Takeyh, a Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, about how Trump’s “maximum pressure” Iranian plot will affect US-Iran relations going forward.
