Message to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Registerand transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Iran that was declared on March 15, 1995, is to continue in effect beyond March 15, 2020.
The actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.
For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 with respect to Iran and to maintain in force comprehensive sanctions against Iran to respond to this threat.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 12, 2020.
Coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space.
Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims just days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak. https://t.co/3S4dgLisbu pic.twitter.com/UJwEWEAdhi— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 12, 2020
Good endrun around Congress. Stay tuned for further pressure.
Tough time for Iran. It is (1) hit by, and I suggest the real target of, the Saudi oil price war; (2) hit by a very odd and high mortality rate Coronavirus outbreak in the upper reaches of government and almost certainly more widespread in the general population than admitted; (3) watching its Chinese oil market diminish as a result of that country’s production and shipping hit; (4) humiliated by the shootdown of the Ukrainian airliner; (5) crippled by the messy death of its best terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani; (6) beset by rioting in the streets from a young population that has had enough of the mullahs. If that government falls things get very interesting very fast.