On Feb. 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to impose “maximum pressure” on Iran’s government, deny Tehran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and counter the regime’s malign influence in the Middle East. It is “in the national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop its support for terrorist groups,” the executive order said. It directed the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on Iran, the Secretary of State to lead a campaign to isolate the country, and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to work with allies to reimpose U.N. sanctions for its nuclear activities, also known as “snapback.”
President Trump, however, signaled reluctance while signing the order and expressed his preference for diplomacy. “We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “So I'm signing this, and I'm unhappy to do it, but I really have not so much choice, because we have to be strong and firm, and I hope that it's not going to have to be used in any great measure at all.” He said that he would be open to speaking with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian.
In separate remarks alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington, Trump elaborated on his hope to avoid a “catastrophic” situation. “I would love to be able to make a great deal, a deal where you can get on with your lives, and you'll do wonderfully. You'll do wonderfully. Incredible people, industrious, beautiful, just an unbelievable group of people in Iran.”
The following day, President Trump dismissed reports that the United States and Israel were considering a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In a post on Truth Social, he also called for work on a deal with Tehran to start “immediately.”
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was willing to give diplomacy with Washington “another chance.” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the nuclear controversy was not hard to resolve. “If the main issue is ensuring that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a difficult matter," he said after a cabinet meeting in Tehran on February 5. But he also criticized the U.S. strategy. "I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure." The following is the full text of the memorandum with a White House fact sheet and excerpted remarks by President Trump from February 4.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY
THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OF STAFF
THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
THE UNITED STATES PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS
THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
THE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR ECONOMIC POLICY
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
THE DIRECTOR OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
SUBJECT: 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
As President, my highest priority is to ensure the safety and security of the United States and the American people. Since its inception in 1979 as a revolutionary theocracy, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared its hostility to the United States and its allies and partners. Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and has aided Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the Taliban, al-Qa’ida, and other terrorist networks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is itself a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The Iranian Government, including the IRGC, is using agents and cyber-enabled means to target United States nationals living in the United States and other countries around the world for attacks, including assault, kidnapping, and murder. 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.
Iran bears responsibility for the horrific Hamas massacres committed on October 7, 2023, and bears responsibility for continued Houthi attacks against the United States Navy, allied navies, and international commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Since April 2024, the regime has twice demonstrated its willingness to launch ballistic and cruise missile attacks against the State of Israel.
Iran commits grievous human rights abuses and arbitrarily detains foreigners, including United States citizens, on spurious charges without due process of law, subjecting them to abuse. The United States stands with the women of Iran who face daily abuse by the regime.
Iran’s nuclear program, including its enrichment- and reprocessing-related capabilities and nuclear-capable missiles, poses an existential danger to the United States and the entire civilized world. A radical regime like this can never be allowed to acquire or develop nuclear weapons, or to extort the United States or its allies through the threat of nuclear weapons acquisition, development, or use. Iran today stands in breach of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations by concealing undeclared nuclear sites and material as required by its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has obstructed IAEA access to its military sites or sites tied to the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, also known as SPND, and to interview nuclear weapons scientists still employed by SPND. Public reports indicating that Iran may now be engaged in computer modeling related to nuclear weapons development raise immediate alarm. We must deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon and end the regime’s nuclear extortion racket.
Iran’s behavior threatens the national interest of the United States. It is therefore in the national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop its support for terrorist groups.
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States that Iran be denied a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles; that Iran’s network and campaign of regional aggression be neutralized; that the IRGC and its surrogates be disrupted, degraded, or denied access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities; and to counter Iran’s aggressive development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities.
Sec. 2. Enacting Maximum Pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall:
(i) immediately impose sanctions or appropriate enforcement remedies on all persons for which the Department has evidence of activity in violation of one or more Iran-related sanctions;
(ii) implement a robust and continual sanctions enforcement campaign with respect to Iran that denies the regime and its terror proxies access to revenue;
(iii) review for modification or rescission any general license, frequently asked question, or other guidance that provides Iran or any of its terror proxies any degree of economic or financial relief;
(iv) issue updated guidance to all relevant business sectors including shipping, insurance, and port operators, about the risks to any person that knowingly violates United States sanctions with respect to Iran or an Iranian terror proxy; and
(v) maintain countermeasures against Iran at the Financial Action Task Force, evaluate beneficial ownership thresholds to ensure sanctions deny Iran all possible illicit revenue, and evaluate whether financial institutions should adopt a “Know Your Customer’s Customer” standard for Iran-related transactions to further prevent sanctions evasion.
(b) The Secretary of State shall:
(i) modify or rescind sanctions waivers, particularly those that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief, including those related to Iran’s Chabahar port project;
(ii) implement a robust and continual campaign, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and other relevant executive departments or agencies (agencies), to drive Iran’s export of oil to zero, including exports of Iranian crude to the People’s Republic of China;
(iii) 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 of Iran wherever such may operate outside Iran’s borders; and
(iv) take immediate steps, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and other relevant agencies, to ensure that the Iraqi financial system is not utilized by Iran for sanctions evasion or circumvention, and that Gulf countries are not used as sanctions evasion transshipment points.
(c) The United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations shall:
(i) work with key allies to complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran;
(ii) hold Iran accountable for its breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and
(iii) regularly convene the United Nations Security Council to highlight the myriad threats posed by Iran to international peace and security.
(d) The Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a robust and continuous export control enforcement campaign to restrict the flow of technology and components used by the regime for military purposes.
(e) The Attorney General shall:
(i) pursue all available legal steps to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute financial and logistical networks, operatives, or front groups inside the United States that are sponsored by Iran or an Iranian terror proxy;
(ii) pursue all available legal steps to impound illicit Iranian oil cargoes;
(iii) pursue all available legal steps to identify Iranian governmental assets in the United States and overseas, and help American victims of terrorism, including Gold Star Families, collect on Federal judgments against Iran;
(iv) pursue all available legal steps to indict and prosecute the leaders and members of Iranian-funded terrorist groups and proxies that have captured, harmed, or killed American citizens and, where possible and in coordination with the Secretary of State, seek their arrest and extradition to the United States; and
(v) use all criminal, regulatory, and cyber authorities and tools to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and disrupt efforts by the Iranian government to conduct espionage or obtain military, intelligence, government, or other sensitive information, compromise the Homeland and our critical infrastructure, evade sanctions and export controls, obtain material support for terrorism, exert foreign malign influence, and threaten harm and infringe on First Amendment-protected speech, including efforts designed to sow anti-Semitism.
Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Fact Sheet
RESTORING MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON IRAN: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) restoring 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 abroad.
The NSPM establishes that:
- Iran should be denied a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles;
- Iran’s terrorist network should be neutralized; and
- Iran’s aggressive development of missiles, as well as other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities, should be countered.
The NSPM directs the Secretary of the Treasury to impose maximum economic pressure on the Government of Iran, including by sanctioning or imposing enforcement mechanisms on those acting in violation of existing sanctions.
The Treasury Secretary will also issue guidance for all relevant business sectors – including shipping, insurance, and port operators – about the risks to any person that knowingly violates U.S. sanctions with respect to Iran or an Iranian terror proxy.
The Secretary of State will also modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers and cooperate with the Secretary of Treasury to implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.
The United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations will work with key allies to complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
PROTECTING THE HOMELAND FROM IRAN: The previous Administration’s tolerance of Iran’s threats to American citizens and companies ends now.
- The Attorney General will pursue all available legal steps to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute financial and logistical networks, operatives, or front groups inside the United States that are sponsored by Iran or an Iranian terror proxy.
- The Attorney General will prosecute leaders and members of Iranian-funded terrorist groups that have captured, harmed, or killed American citizens and seek their arrest and extradition to the United States.
TAKING IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM OFF THE TABLE: President Trump will not tolerate Iran possessing a nuclear weapons capability, nor will he stand for their sustained sponsorship of terrorism, especially against U.S. interests.
- In 2020, President Trump declared that “as long as [he is] President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
- Today’s NSPM fulfills the President’s 2020 vow to contend with Iran’s pernicious influence across the globe:
“For far too long — all the way back to 1979, to be exact — nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond. Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen.”
President Donald Trump
From the memorandum signing on Feb. 4, 2025:
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So this is one that I'm torn about. Everybody wants me to sign it. I'll do that. It's very tough on Iran. It's what we had before. We would have never had the problem, you would have never had October 7, we would have never had the problem had the election gone the different way which it should have. But this one, I think more than made up for it. I think we're doing things that it shows more than made up for it. Much more historic, the Iran situation. Hopefully I'm going to sign it, but hopefully we're not going to have to use it very much. We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran, and everybody can live together. And maybe that's possible, and maybe it's not possible.
So I'm signing this, and I'm unhappy to do it, but I really have not so much choice, because we have to be strong and firm, and I hope that it's not going to have to be used in any great measure at all. It'd be great if we could have a Middle East and maybe a world at total peace. Right now you don't have that. When I left, you had peace all over the world, and now you have the world is blowing up.
As you know, Bibi is coming in to see me. Later, others are coming in to see me. We'll see what we can do. But I'm signing this, and hopefully it will be a document which won't be very important, will hardly have to be used.
REPORTER: So what kind of deal would you be prepared to...?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we're going to see. I mean, we're going to see. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. With me, it's very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. We don't want to be tough on Iran. We don't want to be tough on anybody, but they just can't have a nuclear weapon.
REPORTER: Would you have conversations with your counterpart in Iran?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would.
REPORTER: Do you want to block the sale of Iranian oil to other nations?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we have the right to do that, and that's what I did before. And they had no money. They wouldn't have had the money for Hamas or Hezbollah or anybody else.
I just could.. .have been solved, this thing. If things went the way they should have, this would have been over long ago, but it's not over.
REPORTER: How close do you think Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think they're close. I think they're close. They're too close. But again, you can go back four years. I would have said they would have had it during this intervening period, but they're pretty close.
REPORTER: Why would you be happy to sign it if it's Iran and their proxies who threaten to retaliate against you and your team by killing you guys for taking out Soleimani.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, they haven't done that, and that would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I've left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left, and they shouldn't be able to do it. And Biden should have said that, but he never did. I don't know why, lack of intelligence, perhaps, but he never said it.
If that happens to a leader or close to a leader, frankly, if you had other people involved also, you would call for total obliteration of a state that did it, that would include Iran. So I'm signing this, and it's a very powerful document, but hopefully we're not going to have to use it.
REPORTER: Mr. President, if the if the Prime Minister (Netanyahu) today were to ask your help in striking at Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent the kind of progress towards a nuclear weapon, would you give him the green light – either to do it himself or for the US to participate with him?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don't know that that's what he's going to be asking for. I have no idea that it is... you're telling me. We're going to have a pretty long meeting. We're going to be discussing a lot of things, not only that, but a lot of things. And I'll let you know if the time comes to let you know. But right now, that's not something that I can discuss.
REPORTER: Mr. President, when you just said, when you said, if they do, if they get obliterated, just to be clear, you're talking about if Iran made an attempt on your life.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, that would be called total obliteration. And I can't imagine they'd do that. It should have been stated by Biden, but he didn't state it because he had no clue, as you know, as everybody knows.
REPORTER: What is your vision, actually, for a relationship with Iran?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'd love to have a good relationship with everybody. They can't have a nuclear weapon. That was... the only thing that was very important. They can't have a nuclear weapon. Beyond that, you know, we would be very tough if they insist on doing that. They have some of their leadership, I can tell you right now, and maybe you know it, maybe you don't, but there are many people at the top ranks of Iran that do not want to have a nuclear weapon, just for that very reason.
From a short presser with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Feb. 4, 2025:
REPORTER: Now that Iran is so weak, isn't it the right time to hit their nuclear facilities once and for all?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So you say Iran is so weak, I appreciate you saying that. They're not weak. They're very strong right now, and we're not, we're not going to allow them to have a nuclear weapons. Very simple. You know, I signed a very strong proclamation. Iran was in big trouble when I left. You had no problem. October 7 could have never happened when I left, October 7 could have never happened. And frankly, Russia and Ukraine, as I said, could never have happened. They became very strong, very fast. They sold massive amounts of oil to China and everybody else who would not buy the oil when I was President, because we said: don't buy the oil. And they became very rich very quickly. But they're not weak. They're strong. Doesn't mean they won't be weak. But you know what? We just don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon.
From the formal press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Feb. 4, 2025:
PRESIDENT TRUMP (from pre-written statement): Today, I also took action to restore a maximum pressure policy on the Iranian regime, and we will once again enforce the most aggressive possible sanctions, drive Iranian oil exports to zero and diminish the regime's capacity to fund terror throughout the region and throughout the world. We had no threat when I left office. Iran was not able to sell oil. Nobody was buying oil because I said: don't buy it. If you buy it, you're not doing any business with the United States. And Hamas was not being funded. Hezbollah was not being funded. Nobody was being funded. There would never have been an October 7...
REPORTER: You said earlier today that it was tough for you to implement these sanctions on Iran, but you did indicate that you were willing to negotiate with them. What would that look like, and are you in conversations with them? And the same for the Prime Minister.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I hated doing it. I want Iran to be peaceful and successful. I hated doing it. I did it once before, and we brought them down to a level where they were unable to give any money. They had to survive themselves, and they had no money. They were essentially broke. And they had no money for, as I said, Hezbollah. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for any form of terror, the 28 if you call it, the 28 sites of terror, they had no money for any of it. They had to do their own and focus on their own well being. And I hated to do it then, and I hated, I hate to do it just as much now.
And I say this, and I say this to Iran, who is listening very intently: I would love to be able to make a great deal, a deal where you can get on with your lives, and you'll do wonderfully. You'll do wonderfully. Incredible people, industrious, beautiful, just an unbelievable group of people in Iran. And I know them well. Have many friends from Iran, and many friends that are Americans from Iran, and they're very proud of Iran. But I hated to do it, just so you understand. And I hope we're going to be able to do something so that it doesn't end up in a very catastrophic situation. I don't want to see that happen. I want to, I really want to see peace, and I hope that we're able to do that. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. I'm not putting restrictions. They cannot have one thing. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon, despite what I just said, I think that's going to be very unfortunate for them. If, on the other hand, they can convince us that they won't, and I hope they can – it's very easy to do, it's actually very easy to do – I think they're going to have an unbelievable future.