Former Vice President Mike Pence’s group released a memo demanding that the Trump administration launch a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
The statement from Advancing American Freedom Foundation, obtained by The Hill, claims that it would be “wise” for the Trump administration to employ the pressure strategy. “President Trump delivered a critical blow to Iran’s attempt to achieve nuclear breakout status, sending Iran’s uranium enrichment program back years,” the memo reads. “Even still, as the Trump administration begins to re-engage with Iran, it would be wise to return to its Maximum Pressure posture from the first administration and take heed of the charged situation inside the country.”
The memo goes on to urge the White House to prohibit Iran’s uranium enrichment, impose sanctions on the Iranian regime, and hold talks with the opposition party to encourage the ability for Iranians to “determine their own destiny by establishing a truly democratic republic, as bipartisan majorities of the House of Representatives have resolved,” according to the report.
In February, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) seeking to restore “maximum pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and deny “Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad.” The memorandum directed the Treasury Secretary to impose sanctions or other “enforcement mechanisms” on Iran and ordered the Secretary of State to cooperate with the Treasury’s sanction activities.
Following the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Pence told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum, “I couldn’t be more proud of President Trump’s decisive leadership in this moment or the extraordinary professionalism and courage of our armed forces that brought about this historic mission.”
