Executive Order 12170 was issued by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

president

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

on November 14, 1979, ten days after the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

had started. The

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

, empowered under the

International Emergency Economic Powers Act The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary t ...

, ordered the

freezing Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid o ...

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 Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981 was a set of agreements between the United States and Iran to resolve the Iran hostage crisis, brokered by the Algerian government and signed in Algiers on January 19, 1981. The crisis arose from the takeo ...

; the accords were signed on the last full day of the Carter administration and assented to by the incoming

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

. The order was first declared on 14 November 1979 ( EO 12170). At least 11 executive orders were based on this emergency state. The emergency, which was renewed in 2016 for the 36th year, is the "oldest existing state of emergency." The renewal of the emergency state with respect to Iran was equal to continuation of non-nuclear US sanctions against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. By 2014, this state of emergency was among 30 others which US was dealing with. According to Gregory Korte of ''USA Today'', this state of emergency gives "extra ordinary powers" to the president to "seize property, call up the National Guard and hire and fire military officers at will," since it is declared by executive order. The language of such declarations are "nearly apocalyptic," according to the ''USA Today''. Although bound by law to review the emergence declarations,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

provides little "oversight" on them, said Korte.

Renewals

2016

By 2016 (the year the

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...

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 Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

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,

, had not been fully implanted. "Despite the historic deal to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, certain 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," wrote Obama in his letter to the Congress. Most of the

U.S. sanctions against Iran The United States has since 1979 applied various economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. United States economic sanctions are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the United States De ...

are legally originated from this state of emergency. 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

extended the national emergency for another year and wrote a letter to Congress.

References

External links

Executive Order 12170--Blocking Iranian Government property
'' US Federal Register'', November 17, 1979
Letter – Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran
{{Iran–United States relations History of the foreign relations of the United States Executive orders of Jimmy Carter Iran–United States relations 1979 in international relations 1979 in American law Sanctions against Iran Emergency laws in the United States United States sanctions

Renewals

2016

2017

See also

References

External links