United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order on May 8 imposing sanctions on Iran’s metals sectors. The order, “Imposing Sanctions with Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran,” comes on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. leaving the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and just days after Iran threatened to scuttle aspects of the deal if Europe did not take significant steps to initiate trade with Iran.

Europe rejected the ultimatum, but pledged it would make every effort to keep the JCPOA alive. In the meantime, the U.S. has vowed to continue applying pressure on Iran. According to the order:

It remains the policy of the United States to deny Iran all paths to both a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and to counter the totality of Iran's malign influence in the Middle East. It is also the policy of the United States to deny the Iranian government revenue, including revenue derived from the export of products from Iran's iron, steel, aluminum, and copper sectors, that may be used to provide funding and support for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist groups and networks, campaigns of regional aggression, and military expansion.