What exactly is in Trump’s maximum pressure policy against Iran?

US President Donald Trump signed a memo on Tuesday to increase American pressure and sanctions on Iran despite him saying he “hated doing it.”

On Wednesday, Trump said he wanted Iran to be “a great and successful” country but could not have a nuclear weapon. “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,” ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” he said in a post on Truth.

In his first term as president, Trump instituted what is referred to as “maximum pressure” against Iran. Despite claiming to have not eased the campaign, the Biden administration did not strictly enforce all sanctions with the hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump unilaterally withdrew from when he was first elected.

The subject of the memorandum, “Imposing Maximum Pressure on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Denying Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon, and Countering Iran’s Malign Influence,” is self-explanatory but Al Arabiya English looks at what exactly is in the document that now stipulates America’s policy toward Iran and its regime?

Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, according to the memo, and it continues to target Americans living in the US and other countries around the world.

The policy of the US is to deny Iran a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles, neutralize its network and campaign of “regional aggression.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its surrogates are to be “disrupted, degraded, or denied access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities,” the memo said. “Iran has also directed its proxy groups, including Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization, to embed sleeper cells in the Homeland to be activated in support of this terrorist activity,” the memo said. It also says Iran bears responsibility for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel as well as the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

During his announcement of the new maximum pressure campaign, Trump said Iran was not allowed to have a nuclear weapon. “We must deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon and end the regime’s nuclear extortion racket,” the memo said.

The Treasury secretary has been directed to sanction anyone who has violated Iran-related sanctions.

For his part, the secretary of State is to rescind Iran sanctions waivers and work across the US government to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero, including Iranian crude to China. The top US diplomat has also been ordered to lead a diplomatic campaign to isolate Iran throughout the world, “including within international organizations, including the denial of freedom of movement or safe haven to the IRGC or any terror proxy.”

The US ambassador to the UN has been ordered to coordinate with allies regarding the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran, and the attorney general has been directed to pursue all available legal steps to impound illicit Iranian oil cargoes.