Donald Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran – as he threatened Tehran it would be “obliterated” if it assassinates him.

The US president signed a memorandum on Tuesday in an effort to crack down on Iran’s nuclear programme and restrict oil exports – moments before he met Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Trump said he also signed the “tough” directive on Iran because Tehran was “too close” to having a nuclear weapon.

He added he would hold talks with his counterpart in Tehran, but warned he has left “instructions” for his advisers that if Iran assassinated him, the US foe “would be obliterated”.

The US Justice Department announced in federal charges in November that an Iranian plot to kill Mr Trump before the presidential election had been thwarted.

The department alleged Iranian officials had instructed Farhad Shakeri, 51, to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Mr Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran.

It comes as Mr Trump withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council in an executive order.

The president has also stopped funding of the UN’s relief agency for Gaza.

The order means Mr Trump has reinstated policies that were in place during his first administration.

Joe Biden’s administration previously paused funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after reports its staff were involved in the 7 October attacks.

Mr Trump also claimed that Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza, but that he doesn’t necessarily support Israelis settling in the enclave.

Trump maximises leverage over Iran by squeezing where it hurts most

Dominic Waghorn

International affairs editor

@DominicWaghorn

Leverage is the most important thing in negotiations, Donald Trump said in his book The Art Of The Deal. “Don’t make deals without it.”

The US president has just maximised his leverage over Iran’s government, squeezing it where it hurts most.

Oil sales. The move will hurt Iran’s economy already in deep trouble and could lead to more social unrest.

But the impact does not stop there. The global price of oil has already jumped on the news.

Read more here

The US president also repeated previous suggestions that he would like to see Jordan and Egypt take Palestinians from Gaza.

“The Gaza thing has never worked,” Trump told reporters.

“If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places…I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.”

Read more:
What’s going on with Trump’s tariffs?
The Goonies cast reunite
El Salvador agrees to take criminals from US

Egypt and Jordan, as well other Arab nations, have flatly rejected calls by Trump to relocate the territory’s population during post-war rebuilding of the territory.

The UN estimates that 60% of structures in the enclave have been damaged or destroyed, with almost all of the 2.3 million people in Gaza having been forced to leave their homes during Israel’s 15-month war to take shelter elsewhere in the territory.

Meanwhile, the president said he thinks he will wind down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in what would be a dramatic overhaul of how the world’s largest single donor allocates foreign assistance.

When a reporter said to Trump it sounded like he was going to “wind down” the agency, Trump chuckled and said “I think so.”

Chaos has consumed the agency, which distributes billions of dollars of humanitarian aid around the world, since Trump
ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid hours after taking office and tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a “criminal” organisation, with scaling down the agency.

Mr Trump also said he would like to close the US Department of Education with executive action.

The remains of all 67 victims of the Washington DC plane crash have been recovered, US authorities have said.

The collision involving an American Airlines flight and an army helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport was the deadliest US aviation incident in almost 25 years.

Officials said all but one of the victims of the 29 January crash above the Potomac River have been positively identified.

It came as it was confirmed crews working in difficult conditions had recovered a number of large pieces of the jet from the river.

It is hoped work to recover the helicopter wreckage will start on Wednesday.

“Our hearts are with the victims’ families as they navigate this tragic loss,” officials said in a joint statement from the city and federal agencies involved in the search and recovery.

The chief medical examiner will be working to positively identify the final set of remains, officials said.

Updated data shows the Black Hawk helicopter was flying at 300ft on the air traffic control display at the time of the collision.

The data indicates the military helicopter was above 200ft, which officials said is the maximum permitted altitude for the route it was using.

Investigators earlier revealed the plane, which was about to land, was at 325ft, plus or minus 25ft, at the time of impact.

Sixty passengers and four crew were on the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas.

The Black Hawk, carrying three soldiers, was on a training mission.

Read more on Sky News:
Time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be removed
Photo of badger admiring a Banksy scoops top award
Study reveals at what time people feel most happy

In the aftermath of the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration has imposed significant restrictions on helicopter flights around Reagan National Airport and two of its runways remain closed.

Full federal investigations normally take a year or more, but it is hoped a preliminary report into the crash will be completed within 30 days.

Leverage is the most important thing in negotiations, Donald Trump said in his book The Art Of The Deal. “Don’t make deals without it.”

The US president has just maximised his leverage over Iran’s government, squeezing it where it hurts most.

Oil sales. The move will hurt Iran’s economy, already in deep trouble, and could lead to more social unrest.

The edict Mr Trump signed on Tuesday marks a return to the maximum pressure policies of his first administration that were relaxed by his successors.

Joe Biden allowed Iran to export more than $50bn of oil a year.

Trump is reversing that. He will target foreign ports and refineries, especially those in China that are currently handling Iranian oil.

Iran may find there is nowhere left for it to sell its oil.

Read more: Trump says Iran will be ‘obliterated’ if it assassinates him

That could be devastating for the ayatollahs and their government. Strapped by crippling sanctions, Iranians desperately need the hard currency receipts generated by oil sales.

But the impact does not stop there. The global price of oil has already jumped on the news.

This spells more trouble for the government in Tehran. Higher fuel prices add to the pain of Iran’s poor. That increases the chances of social unrest.

Protests led by Iranian women following the death of a Mahsa Amini more than two years ago were crushed with force but they weakened the government’s standing.

If the rural poor take to the streets, protesting against higher fuel and food prices on top of already crippling inflation, broader and more wide-ranging unrest could ensue.

This all puts Iran’s government in a bind.

President Trump says he wants a deal with Iran. Its people are amazing, he says, and the country has huge potential.

On one condition. It cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes but since Mr Trump reneged on the first Iranian nuclear deal it has been enriching uranium to levels that can have no civilian purpose.

Its government is facing a choice. Enter talks with the US from a position of weakness. Or change its nuclear doctrine and accelerate its pursuit of the bomb.

The latter path is fraught with danger. Israeli intelligence has infiltrated and penetrated Iran. It is likely to detect any clandestine dash to go the final mile and produce a nuclear weapon.

Read more from Sky News:
Why China has not retaliated more in Trump trade spat
What’s going on with Trump and tariffs and what does it all mean?

Israel is likely then to attack Iran and Mr Trump has said without a deal the US is likely to support it.

Iran has never been more exposed. Over the last year it has watched its network of allies and proxies done mortal damage by Israel.

In the latest round of fighting between the two countries, Israel is thought to have destroyed much of Iran’s air defences. But it has other means of self-defence.

Not least attacking neighbours across the gulf and their vulnerable energy infrastructure. That raises the spectre once more of an escalating war across the Middle East.

Iran’s diplomats are sounding defiant. Attacking its nuclear facilities would be “crazy“, its foreign minister Abbas Aragchi told Sky News last month. It would lead, he said, to a “very bad disaster” for the region.

Iran’s leaders are in a tight spot. Mr Trump seems determined to increase their pain. He hopes that could increase the chances of a deal on his terms.

Others fear it makes a devastating regional conflict more likely. The repercussions of a conflict across the Persian Gulf would be felt around the world.