US extends national emergency declaration on Iran for 46th time
US President Donald Trump has rolled over an annual declaration of a US national emergency on Iran according to a statement published on Friday on the Federal Register.
US President Donald Trump has rolled over an annual declaration of a US national emergency on Iran according to a statement published on Friday on the Federal Register.
The national emergency was announced on November 14, 1979 when radical students in Tehran seized the US embassy and took hostage dozens of diplomats, staff and guards. Trump's move marks the 46th time it has been renewed.
The decision by then-president Jimmy Carter was meant “to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States constituted by the situation in Iran.”
In renewing the national emergency Trump said in a statement: "Our relations with Iran have not yet normalized, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated January 19, 1981, is ongoing."
On that date, Iran and the United States agreed to the Algiers Accords, an understanding brokered by the North African nations for the two enemies to resolve the hostage standoff.
"For this reason, the national emergency declared on November 14, 1979, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond November 14, 2025," Trump added. "Therefore... I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Iran declared in Executive Order 12170."
In addition to the 1979 declaration, a separate national emergency was declared on March 15, 1995, addressing Iran's actions related to terrorism and weapons proliferation. This emergency has also been renewed annually, with the 30th extension made by the Trump administration on March 7, 2025.
After taking office for his second term in January, Trump reimposed his so-called maximum pressure campaign on Iran. The two sides then held five rounds of nuclear talks before a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, which culminated in US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.
Negotiations have since stalled over uranium enrichment, with Western powers insisting Iran end domestic enrichment and Tehran refusing.
Last month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described negotiations with the United States as “useless and harmful” and declared any talks with Washington forbidden.
In a speech this week he praised the 1979 hostage taking as a formative moment in the Islamic Revolution and its mission to eject the United States military from the region and defeat its ally Israel.
