President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that will restore his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran in a bid to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and drive its oil exports down to zero.

The move brings back the tough-on-Iran policies that Mr. Trump imposed during his first term. It also comes just hours ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s very tough on Iran,” Mr. Trump told reporters while signing it. “Hopefully we are not going to have to use it very much.”

The order directs the Treasury Department to impose “maximum economic power” on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions. It will also implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports down to zero.

In addition, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will work with allies to restore international sanctions to Iran.

Tehran’s oil exports brought in $53 billion in 2023 and $54 billion a year earlier, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last year was Iran’s highest oil production since 2018.

During his first term, Mr. Trump had driven Iran’s oil exports to near-zero during his first term.

However, they rose under former President Biden, as the administration failed to rigorously enforce oil-export sanctions. An emboldened Tehran funneled money from oil sales into a nuclear weapons program and to proxy militias in the Middle East.

Iran has denied that it is developing a nuclear weapon, but it has dramatically increased accelerating enrichment of uranium to roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said in December.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.