Maximum Pressure Act Codifies Sanctions, Strips Presidential Authority to Waive Iran Penalties

This bill, the Maximum Pressure Act, is a massive push to permanently lock down the toughest possible sanctions against Iran. It’s not just adding new penalties; it’s taking several past presidential executive orders—which could have been reversed by the next administration—and writing them directly into law. The core idea is simple: stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, curb its missile programs, and cut off funding to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which the bill explicitly links to the October 7, 2023, attacks.

This legislation is a game-changer for U.S. foreign policy because it effectively removes the President’s ability to lift or waive sanctions without meeting a long, detailed list of conditions and securing Congressional approval. For busy people, this means the U.S. policy toward Iran is being put on autopilot, making diplomatic flexibility—like the kind needed for hostage negotiations or de-escalation—much harder to achieve.

The Sanctions Autopilot: Locking Out Waivers

Imagine you’re running a business and the CEO needs to sign off on every single minor change to the budget. That’s what this bill does to the President regarding Iran sanctions. Title I is the muscle of this Act, codifying multiple Executive Orders (like 13606, 13846, 13876, and others) into permanent statute (Sec. 101). It also eliminates the “sunset” clause of the original Iran Sanctions Act, meaning these penalties will never automatically expire (Sec. 104).

Crucially, the bill mandates that the President cannot lift sanctions unless Iran meets 12 specific demands, which include completely stopping uranium enrichment, withdrawing all forces from Syria, and stopping all support for Hamas and Hezbollah (Sec. 4, Sec. 104). If the President tries to lift or waive any sanction, Congress gets a minimum of 30 days to review and potentially block that action, and the President must halt the action during that time (Sec. 107). This high barrier to policy shifts means that future presidents will have their hands tied, potentially prolonging periods of tension.

Targeting Every Dollar: Financial Institutions on Notice

If you work in finance or international trade, this bill raises your risk level significantly. The Act expands sanctions to cover nearly every sector of the Iranian economy—including construction, mining, textiles, and automotive—and makes it explicitly clear that anyone providing “significant support” to Iran’s shipping sector, from port authorities to marine insurers, is now a target (Sec. 105, Sec. 108).

For foreign financial institutions, the rules are even tighter. If a foreign bank knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for someone involved in human rights abuses or missile development, they face mandatory U.S. penalties (Sec. 115). Furthermore, the bill prohibits the allocation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to Iran (Sec. 201), cutting off a potential source of reserve funding. This aggressive approach means that foreign banks will likely choose to cut off all Iranian business, even if it involves legitimate or humanitarian transactions, just to avoid the risk of U.S. secondary sanctions.

Missile Programs and the Supreme Leader’s Wallet

The bill dramatically expands sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs, treating missile technology acquisition with the same severity as nuclear weapons proliferation (Sec. 112, Sec. 114). Anyone supporting these programs is subject to mandatory asset freezes and travel bans.

In a highly specific move, the Act mandates sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his entire office, including family members (Sec. 102). It also requires the Director of National Intelligence and the Treasury Secretary to produce a public report detailing the estimated total net worth and sources of income for Khamenei and his family, including their holdings in major state-affiliated entities like the Mostazafan Foundation (Sec. 407). This is a direct, public attempt to expose the personal wealth of the regime’s top leader.

Helping Victims and Internal Opposition

While the sanctions are punitive, the bill includes provisions intended to help victims and internal opposition. It creates the Iran Strike Fund to provide financial assistance to Iranian workers participating in labor strikes and the families of political prisoners (Sec. 505). It also re-purposes frozen Iranian funds, including $6 billion that was previously moved from South Korea to Qatar, to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (Sec. 502).

However, the bill also contains a provision that limits diplomatic engagement by prohibiting the use of funds for dialogue with Iranian officials known to have been involved in the death or kidnapping of an American citizen (Sec. 5). While ethically understandable, this restriction could limit a future administration’s ability to negotiate the release of hostages, as those negotiations often require speaking directly with the very officials responsible for the detention.