Reading Room Document

Presidential Implementation of Emergency Powers Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act

The President may issue a single executive order invoking the remainder of his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, in response to the situation in Iran, which would permit him to block the property of Iranian citizens as well as that of their government, and to effect a complete trade embargo. The President may delegate the exercise of all implementing powers to the Secretary of the Treasury. Such an order need not declare a new emergency, but could simply find that the underlying emergency continues, and such an order need not be accompanied by an immediate report to Congress. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/22326/download.

November 21, 1979