President Donald Trump issued a threat for Iran to be “obliterated” this week as his administration imposed sanctions on Iranian oil-affiliated groups and individuals as part of his supposed campaign of “maximum pressure” on the country.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that, if he were assassinated by Iran, he has instructed his administration to attack the country.
“I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left,” he said.
Biden should have said that, but he never did.
The president made this threat—which is not actionable, as he would no longer be president—as he signed an executive order to apply pressure to Iran, calling for “maximum economic pressure” on the country, including sanctions. It also calls for a deal preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon—six years after Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal that had placed limits on the country’s nuclear program.
Notably, though the executive order frames Trump’s plan as a way to “restore” pressure against Iran, President Joe Biden had been just as hawkish against Tehran. Biden issued hundreds of sanctions on Iran and affiliated groups in his term, including sanctions issued just weeks before the Democrat left office.