# Maximum Pressure "Maximum Pressure" is the name given to the Iran strategy adopted by the [[Donald Trump]] administration after it withdrew the United States from the [[JCPOA]] nuclear agreement in May 2018. It is a campaign of escalating economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and military signaling intended to coerce Tehran into accepting a far broader deal — or to so weaken the regime that it collapses or capitulates. ## The Strategy After abandoning the nuclear deal, Washington reimposed and dramatically expanded sanctions, aiming to drive Iran's oil exports "to zero," cut it off from the international financial system, and designate the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (2019). Architects and champions of the approach included Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] and National Security Adviser [[John Bolton]], longtime advocates of regime change. The Trump administration paired economic warfare with military escalation, most dramatically the January 2020 drone strike that killed Quds Force commander [[Qasem Soleimani]]. ## Did It Work? By most measures the campaign failed on its own terms. It inflicted severe economic pain on ordinary Iranians, but rather than producing capitulation or collapse it produced the opposite of its stated nuclear goal: freed from the deal's constraints, Iran steadily expanded uranium enrichment to levels far beyond anything the JCPOA had permitted. Politically it discredited Iranian moderates like [[Hassan Rouhani]] who had staked their credibility on engagement, empowered hardliners, and pushed Tehran into deeper strategic alignment with Russia and China. Critics across the spectrum argue maximum pressure delivered maximum proliferation. ## Why It Matters For the vault, Maximum Pressure is the hinge between the destruction of the nuclear deal and open warfare — a key segment of the [[Iran-Contra to Iran War Pipeline]] that runs through to the [[Iran War 2026]]. It is also a case study in a recurring right-wing foreign-policy logic: that coercion without a realistic diplomatic offramp tends to harden adversaries rather than break them, while the architects who promised quick capitulation face no accountability when the predicted collapse never comes. *See also: [[Iranian History Hub]], [[JCPOA]], [[Iran War 2026]], [[Iran-Contra to Iran War Pipeline]]*