Trump: Under My Previous Administration, Iran Was Bankrupt and Had No Money for Hamas and Hezbollah

The President of the United States claims that by the end of his previous administration, Iran reached a point where it had no money to finance its proxy groups in the region. Donald Trump stated that when he left the White House four years ago, 'Iran was bankrupt and had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah.' Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, March 4, he added, 'They had no money to give; everyone knows this.' He also accused the administration of Joe Biden, the previous U.S. President, of 'lifting all sanctions,' allowing Iran to quickly regain funds because 'with oil, you can become rich very fast.' During Joe Biden's administration, a series of sanctions were imposed on Iran, but Republicans accused him of being lenient on oil sanctions, allowing Tehran to continue selling oil primarily to China. Donald Trump implemented a policy known as 'maximum pressure' against Iran during his previous term. About three weeks ago, he also signed a presidential memorandum to resume maximum pressure, but expressed hope that it would not be necessary and that an agreement could be reached with Tehran. Trump has repeatedly stated that he prefers to reach a valid and verifiable nuclear agreement with Iran rather than take military action. However, the leader of the Islamic Republic has rejected negotiations with Donald Trump's administration. In recent days, several officials from Trump's administration have commented on the resumption of the maximum pressure policy against Iran. Among them, the White House National Security Advisor emphasized on March 3 that the implementation of the maximum pressure policy during Trump's previous presidency was effective and cut off the financial resources of the Islamic Republic's proxy groups, stating, 'We need to keep our foot on their throat.' Michael Waltz, speaking at the CPAC conference, referred to Trump's presidential memorandum, saying, 'We will return to those policies that worked' and 'we will keep our foot on the Iranian economy.' Before him, Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that Iran uses any money it receives for its weapons program and 'support for terrorism.' In an interview published on X, he said that all 'destabilizing' events in the Middle East are financially supported by Iran and questioned, 'Why should we allow them to make more money to use it for such things?' Donald Trump and officials from his administration have repeatedly emphasized that they will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.