Trump to Renew ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign Against Iran

Trump to Renew ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign Against Iran

Wall Street Journal-Nov08th2024

By Warren P. Strobel –Benoit Faucon-Lara Seligman

President-elect Donald Trump plans to drastically increase sanctions on Iran and throttle its oil sales as part of an aggressive strategy to undercut Tehran’s support of violent Mideast proxies and its nuclear program, according to people briefed on his early plans.

Trump took a dim view of Iran during his first term, aborting a six-nation agreement with Tehran—known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—that sought to curb Iran’s nuclear-weapons work. He also imposed what was described as a “maximum pressure” strategy in hopes Iran would abandon ambitions for a nuclear weapon, stop funding and training what the U.S. considers terrorist groups and improve its human-rights record.

But when he takes office on Jan. 20, Trump’s approach to Iran is likely to be colored by the knowledge that its agents tried to assassinate him and former top national-security aides after they left office, former Trump officials said. Iran is believed to be seeking revenge for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s covert paramilitary operations.

“People tend to take that stuff personally,” said Mick Mulroy, a top Pentagon official for the Mideast in Trump’s first term. “If he’s going to be hawkish on any particular country, designated major adversaries, it’s Iran.”

The people briefed on Trump’s plans and in touch with his top advisers said the new team would move rapidly to try to choke off Iran’s oil income, including going after foreign ports and traders who handle Iranian oil. That would re-create the strategy that the former president adopted in his first term, with mixed results.

“I think you are going to see the sanctions go back on, you are going to see much more, both diplomatically and financially, they are trying to isolate Iran,” a former White House official said. “I think the perception is that Iran is definitely in a position of weakness right now, and now is an opportunity to exploit that weakness.”

The officials familiar with Trump’s plan didn’t provide details of how precisely he would increase the pressure on Iran.

Israel in recent months has killed the leaders of Iranian proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and damaged much of the groups’ command structure. It launched strikes inside Iran, in retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on Israel, that severely damaged Tehran’s missile-production capabilities and air defenses.