PRESS RELEASE: A Playbook for Trump’s “Maximum Pressure” Campaign to Prevent Iran from Getting the Bomb
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2024
Washington, DC – From the day President-elect Donald Trump takes office, he will have little time or margin for error in preventing a nuclear Iran and must be prepared to implement a comprehensive strategy to do so. Today, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America unveiled its report, “A Day 1 Priority: Strategy for the Next Administration to Prevent a Nuclear Iran“, authored by its Iran Policy Project, providing a playbook for the incoming administration to effectively implement a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime, utilizing diplomatic, economic, and military means.
The report makes the case that given Iran’s unprecedented but fleeting vulnerability after losing crucial ballistic missile and proxy forces, Trump should join Israel in giving Iran a clear ultimatum right away: agree fully and promptly to verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons program, or see it destroyed immediately.
“From day one of his second term, President-elect Trump must prepare credible military options to keep Iran short of the nuclear threshold, including supporting Israel’s freedom of action and readiness,” said Ambassador Eric Edelman, co-chair of JINSA’s Iran Policy Project. “Trump must use this pressure as negotiating leverage if he ultimately pursues nuclear talks with Iran.”
Should Trump decide instead to engage in talks, the report advises that he actively counter Iran’s nuclear advances and its plans to use them as leverage to secure sanctions relief, delegitimize U.S.-Israeli military action, and run out the clock on “snapback” of strict UN sanctions. Trump should avoid past U.S. mistakes by maintaining maximum pressure, demanding Iran finally show good faith by freezing enrichment, complying with inspectors, and halting proxy attacks – and walking away if Iran balks at agreeing to an acceptable deal by clear and pressing deadlines.
“America’s failure to act decisively will embolden Iran and destabilize global security, with ripple effects extending to other geopolitical hotspots such as Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula,” said Gen. Charles Wald, USAF (ret.), co-chair of JINSA’s Iran Policy Project.
If Iran achieves a nuclear weapons capability, it would undermine decades of U.S. foreign policy, and jeopardize international non-proliferation efforts. To prevent this outcome, the report’s comprehensive strategy includes five key areas:
1. Economic pressure will take time to fully impact Iran, so Trump should move quickly to:
• Warn that anyone aiding Iran’s economy will face sanctions the day he takes office;
• Fully enforce existing U.S. sanctions on Iran’s vital oil export revenues, and blunt Iran’s use of oil as a weapon by boosting U.S. production and refilling U.S. reserves.
2. Isolating Iran diplomatically is crucial for coercing it to negotiate earnestly, including by:
• Working with Europe on UN snapback, well before this option expires in October;
• Persuading the EU to designate the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as a terrorist group;
3. Optimizing U.S. military readiness to deter Iranian retaliation and nuclear progress, by:
• Explicitly pledging America’s willingness to strike the regime’s top assets militarily;
• Updating contingency plans to neutralize Iran’s nuclear and other military facilities;
• Deploying U.S. capabilities to the region that can best threaten Iran’s nuclear sites.
4. Coordinating with Israel as the readiest and most credible threat to Iran, including by:
• Declaring Israeli military action to be consistent with stated U.S. prevention policy;
• Expediting transfers of KC-46 tankers, precision guided munitions, and air defenses;
• Conducting combined exercises to boost U.S.-Israel readiness and interoperability, and leaving KC-46 tankers or other key capabilities in Israel, as in past exercises.
5. Supporting the Iranian people, which is important in its own right and can also force the regime to pivot focus from its nuclear program to worrying about internal vulnerabilities.
The window for action is rapidly closing. By early 2025, critical international sanctions mechanisms may expire, allowing Iran to accelerate its nuclear ambitions unimpeded. Only through credible deterrence and a unified international stance can America hope to achieve a peaceful resolution.
Read the Report
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