President Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran on Tuesday, using a visit from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as the moment to ramp up an economic campaign intended to force the country into a series of concessions, including giving up its nuclear program.
The details of the executive order were not immediately released by the White House, so it is not clear what form it takes. But Mr. Trump, who has previously indicated an interest in opening negotiations with Iran, professed to be hesitant to sign it.
“So this is one I’m torn about,” he told reporters. “Everyone wants me to sign it. I’ll do that.” But said he was “unhappy to do it.”
“We have to be strong and firm,” he added, “and I hope that it’s not going to have to be used in any great measure at all.”
He appeared to be all but inviting Iran to negotiate a new deal to dismantle the nuclear infrastructure it has rebuilt in recent years. But any agreement would most likely go beyond that, limiting Iran’s provision of money and aid to groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
It is far from clear that a new pressure campaign will work: Mr. Trump also attempted maximum pressure in 2018, after he withdrew the United States from the nuclear accord that Iran had struck with the Obama administration three years earlier. Mr. Trump still claims that was a major victory, but most outside analysts say it backfired. European powers never went along with it, and eventually Iran pulled out of the accord and has since built a capability to race for a bomb.