President Donald Trump announced Thursday that any country purchasing oil from Iran will be barred from doing business in the United States.
In other words, Trump has returned to the successful maximum pressure campaign against the rogue regime that worked so well during his first term.
The president posted on Truth Social on Thursday, “ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions.”
“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he wrote.
ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 1, 2025
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump imposed a “full embargo on Iran’s crude exports in 2019, and its shipments collapsed to 250,000 barrels a day by early 2020 — substantially less than their level two years earlier. But after Biden took office, they reached a six-year high in September this year.”
China imported over 1.8 million barrels of Iranian oil per day in March, making it Tehran’s best customer, by far, according to Reuters.At this point should Trump simply allow Israel to carry out the military strikes necessary to cripple Iran’s nuclear program.
This is going to be a massive hit to Chinese refineries. By far China is the largest recipient of Iranian oil exports, officially taking in 89% of Iranian oil exports according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This could cripple their access to foreign finance pic.twitter.com/PnLdc5PuPB
— Blake Allen (@Blake_Allen13) May 1, 2025
On Thursday, Trump spoke about the impact of his sanctions during the first term at a Rose Garden event for the National Day of Prayer.
“Iran had no money when I was president,” he said. “They were bust. They had no money. They weren’t giving it to Hamas. They weren’t giving it to Hezbollah. They weren’t giving it to anybody because they didn’t have any money.”
Joe Biden relaxed economic sanctions on Iran, enabling the regime to generate $80 billion in oil revenue.
President Trump will sanction and not allow any country that buys oil from Iran to do business with America.
All we needed was a new President. pic.twitter.com/Lc0PAzveUi
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) May 1, 2025
“Any oil that anybody takes from Iran is not allowed to do business in the United States of America,” Trump emphasized.
The president’s new policy comes as his administration seeks to negotiate a nuclear arms deal with Iran.
The New York Times reported that the fourth round of talks, slated to take place on Saturday, has been postponed.
“Iran has been enriching uranium to around 60 percent purity, just short of the levels needed to produce a weapon. It has amassed enough to build several bombs if it chooses to weaponize, according to the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the Times said.
The US expects talks with Iran to take place soon, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday after a fourth round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran, set for Saturday, were postponed.
“We expect another round of talks that will take place… pic.twitter.com/dRvTgf7hJf
— The New Region (@thenewregion) May 1, 2025
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Thursday, “We expect another round of talks that will take place in the near future,” adding the administration had never confirmed the fourth round would take place on Saturday in the first place.
Trump’s sanctions announcement looks like an obvious negotiating tactic to get Iran back to the table and playing ball.
One thing is certain: He is hitting the regime where it counts.