PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS WORKING TO BRING IRAN'S OIL EXPORTS TO ZERO

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2019 PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS WORKING TO BRING IRAN'S OIL EXPORTS TO ZERO  “Iran’s leaders plunder the nation’s resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond.” – President Donald J. Trump  CUTTING OFF IRAN’S OIL EXPORTS: President Donald J. Trump is taking action intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue. The Trump Administration has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) when they expire in early May. This move aims to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.  The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world’s great energy producers, are working to ensure global oil markets remain well supplied. The United States and its partners will take immediate action to ensure that supplies are made available to replace all Iranian oil removed from the market.   Forecasters expect global oil supply will keep pace with demand in 2019. The Trump Administration is determined to expand and enforce its maximum pressure campaign against the Iranian regime. IMPOSING MAXIMUM PRESSURE: The United States will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime until its leaders change their destructive behavior. President Trump has taken action to hold Iran accountable for the full range of its malign activities. President Trump withdrew the United States from the horrible Iran nuclear deal and imposed the toughest sanctions ever placed on Iran.   All sanctions lifted under the Iran deal were reimposed last year. These sanctions targeted critical sectors of Iran’s economy, including energy, shipping, and its financial institutions. The Administration designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, putting the private sector on notice not to conduct business with them. As a result of the Administration’s actions, Iran’s currency has lost more than two-thirds of its value on the black market. Foreign direct investment and business activity in Iran have fallen off as the private sector realizes the risk of doing business with Iran. More than 100 companies decided to cease doing business there. SENDING A CLEAR MESSAGE: The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its destabilizing activities and global terrorist campaign has serious consequences. ·The Iranian regime has long used oil revenues to support its destabilizing activities and fund terrorist proxies throughout the world. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, working to finance and support terrorist organizations including al-Qa’ida, Hizballah, Hamas, the Taliban, and others. Oil revenues have helped to finance their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs that threaten the region and the United States. Leaders of the Iranian regime have committed horrific human rights violations while using oil revenues to line their own pockets instead of giving support to their own people. Iran continues to undermine the stability of the region, including through hostility toward Israel and threatening freedom of navigation in the critical Persian Gulf. ###