White House to Introduce New Iran Sanctions

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

Dec 31, 2015

 

In response to Iranian ballistic missile tests and research, which officials believe included cooperation with North Korea, the Obama Administration is set to impose its first financial sanctions on Iran since the nuclear deal. The Wall Street Journal reports:

 

(Snip)

 

Given its past track record, what the Administration is likely to do is to split the difference. It will try to find sanctions that look tough enough to limit domestic criticism but are unoffending enough to minimize the risk that Iran will repudiate the nuclear deal. The message to Iran will be that the U.S. remains constrained and that Iran can go on testing the boundaries of compliance without fearing any serious U.S. pushback in the 12 remaining months of President Obama’s time in office.

 

However, the WSJ also reports that Iran sent to Russia 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium this week. That will, the story notes, reduce Tehran’s capacity to make nukes and it has strengthened America’s position. This is a good time for a tough line on missile sanctions that would force Iran to pay a real price for its weapons development programs. A U.S. failure to take advantage of this opportunity, on the other hand, will likely lead to more and not less Iranian adventurism in the region. All in all, it’s a bad start for Administration policy in the Middle East for the new year.