Executive Order 12170 was issued by American president Jimmy Carter on November 14, 1979, ten days after the Iran hostage crisis had started. The executive order, empowered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ordered the freezing of all Iranian government assets held within the United States.

The release of the US hostages, as well as the unfreezing of Iranian assets and establishing arbitration for resolving claims on both sides was negotiated in the Algiers Accords; the accords were signed on the last full day of the Carter administration and assented to by the incoming Reagan Administration.

The order was first declared on 14 November 1979 (EO 12170). At least 11 executive orders were based on this emergency state.

Renewals

2016

By 2016 (the year the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was implemented), some of the executive orders issued pursuant to the declared national emergency were terminated. However, the situation was extended by President Barack Obama for an additional year, as he believed that US relations with Iran had not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated Jan. 19, 1981, Algiers Accords, had not been fully implanted. This renewal meant that "non-nuclear US sanctions against Iran will remain in effect for at least another year."

2017

On November 6, 2017, President Donald Trump extended the national emergency for another year and wrote a letter to Congress.

See also

  • Dames & Moore v. Regan
  • List of national emergencies in the United States
  • Jimmy Carter's engagement with Ruhollah Khomeini

References

  • Executive Order 12170--Blocking Iranian Government property, US Federal Register, November 17, 1979
  • Letter – Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran