2017-21: First Trump administration
38th anniversary of the 1979
Revolution in Azadi square, Tehran, 2017
Citizens of Iran and several other countries were temporarily banned from entering the United States by the executive order "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States" of 27 January 2017. The United States also does not allow Iranian citizens or those
suspected of being Iranian citizens entry into the US, including Iranian passport holders, except for transit. All passengers and crew members of any nationality should ensure they do not have Iranian entry stamps in their passports. There are no direct flights between Iran and the USA so all travel must transit through a third country, and no Iranian aircraft may enter USA airspace.
The Trump administration was seen as having embarked on the path of strengthening an informal coalition with Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and other Sunni Gulf states, with a view to rolling back Iran's influence in the region.[244]
While during his campaign Donald Trump had denounced the JCPOA as "the worst deal ever negotiated" and a disaster that could lead to a nuclear holocaust,[245] in April 2017, the Trump administration certified that Iran was in compliance with the JCPOA.[246]
Between January and late July 2017, Twitter had identified and shut down over 7,000 accounts created by Iranian influence operations.[247]
Protest against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, Tehran, 11 December 2017
In July 2017, the vast majority of congressional Democrats and Republicans voted in favor of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that grouped together sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea.[248][249] On 2 August 2017, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that, "In our view the nuclear deal has been violated".[249] In September 2017, speaking to the UN General Assembly, the countries' presidents exchanged offensive remarks and expressed opposing views on the JCPOA.[250][251]
In May 2018, Donald Trump decided to pull out of the JCPOA, announcing he would reimpose economic sanctions on Iran effective from 4 November that year.[252] In response, the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that if needed he would "begin our industrial enrichment without any limitations".[253] On 5 July, Iran threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz if U.S. decided to re- impose oil sanctions on Iran following US withdrawal from the JCPOA.[254]
In late July 2018, against the backdrop of a harsh exchange of threats between the presidents of the
U.S. and Iran, a large tanker flying a Saudi flag and transporting some 2 million barrels of oil to Egypt was struck in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait near the port of Hodeida by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, believed to be armed and financed by Iran. The incident, which made Saudi Arabia halt oil shipments through the strait, was seen by analysts as greatly escalating tensions.[255][256] It was reported that the Trump administration was conducting a program to foment various opposition groups in Iran.[257]
On 13 August 2018, Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned direct talks with U.S., referring to the failure of the previous ones.[3] "There will be no war, nor will we negotiate with the
US" and "Even if we ever-impossible as it is-negotiated with the US, it would never ever be with the current US administration," Khamenei said.[258] He added that the United States never budges on the primary goal they pursue in negotiations, which are normally based on give and take, and "reneges
on its own end of the bargain" after the negotiation.[259] In November 2018, all the sanctions removed in 2015 were re-imposed on Iran by the Trump administration.[260]
In October 2018 the International Court of Justice provisionally ordered the United States to cancel its sanctions against Iran, relying on the 1955 Treaty of Amity.[261] In response, the United States
withdrew from the treaty.[261]
On 7 March 2019, Acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen, in a letter to Secretary-General António Guterres, urged the United Nations to put new sanctions on Iran for its new missile activities.[262]
IRGC and U.S. Armed Forces terrorist designations
The United States has opposed the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) based on "the group's growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East".[263] On 8 April 2019, the US Department of State announced its intent to brand the IRGC a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), effective April 15.[264]
The Iranian parliament responded by ratifying a motion designating "all legal and real persons and troops of the United States and its allies operating in the West Asian region" terrorists, calling any aid to them a terrorist act and pressing the government to defuse the threat of IRGC designation through multilateral negotiations with international organizations.[265] The nonbinding resolution
cited "the terrorist nature of the United States regime, particularly that part of the American military and security forces and the US Central Command which have been carrying out acts of terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran in the past quarter-century, and have given overt support to terrorist plans."[266] Soon after, the Supreme National Security Council cited similar concerns in
declaring the IRGC designation dangerous and illegal, the United States a "terrorist government" and CENTCOM its primary "terrorist organization".[267][268]
The IRGC was placed on the FTO list for instigating and supporting insurgencies in Iraq resulting in the death of American soldiers. It allegedly operates through its Quds force in other countries in the region and in conjunction with other terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah.
The US State Department Special Briefing also warned against increasing involvement of the IRGC forces in the Syrian conflict:
We believe this is an alarming trend. It's borne out by the facts and it merits closer inspection as we evaluate the landscape of terrorist activity globally. Add to this, of course, is the deepening commitment both Iran and Hezbollah have made to fight and kill on behalf of the Assad regime in Syria. That involvement, of course, is
hardening the con?ict and threatening to spread the violence across the region.
Hezbollah and the Iranian leadership share a similar world view and strategic
vision and are seeking to exploit the current unrest in the region to their advantage. This approach has increased sectarian tensions and con?ict and serves further as a destabilizing force during a time of great change throughout the region.[269]
On 10 April, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, addressed the designation in a televised speech from Beirut:
US impudence and folly went beyond limits when it branded Iran's IRGC as a
terrorist organization. The force has made a great deal of sacrifice in order to stand against the US and Israeli hegemony in the region. We, hereby, condemn the US decision, and express our support for our friends at the IRGC.
Michael Rubin, a senior research fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, said he feared the IRGC designation "might exculpate the rest of the regime when, in reality, the IRGC's activities cannot be separated from the state leadership of Supreme Leader Khamenei or President Ahmadinejad".[270] The Iranian newspaper Kayhan quoted the commander of Iran's elite
Revolutionary Guards as threatening to deal heavier blows against the United States in response to the designation.[271] Mohammad Khatami, former Reforms Front Iranian President hoped to "remind those in the U.S. Congress or elsewhere working for the benefit of the American nation to stand against these measures or the wall between the two countries grow taller and thicker".[272]
This would be the first time that official armed units of sovereign states are included in a list of
banned terrorist groups.[273] Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, a former consultant to the UN's program of Dialogue Among Civilizations,[274] stated in Asia Times Online that the move has possible legal implications: "Under international law, it could be challenged as illegal, and untenable, by isolating a branch of the Iranian government for selective targeting. This is contrary to the 1981 Algiers Accords' pledge of non-interference in Iran's internal affairs by the US government".[275] News leaks about the prospective designation worried European governments and private sector firms, which could face prosecution in American courts for working with the IRGC.[276]
In April 2019 the U.S. threatened to sanction countries continuing to buy oil from Iran after an initial six-month waiver announced in November 2018 expired.[277] According to the BBC, U.S. sanctions against Iran "have led to a sharp downturn in Iran's economy, pushing the value of its currency to
record lows, quadrupling its annual inflation rate, driving away foreign investors, and triggering protests."[278] In December 2018, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani warned: "If one day they want to prevent the export of Iran's oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf."[279]