{"id":145708,"date":"2023-01-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=912909"},"modified":"2023-01-29T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T00:00:00","slug":"the-risk-of-failing-to-enforce-sanctions-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/01\/29\/the-risk-of-failing-to-enforce-sanctions-on-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"The risk of failing to enforce sanctions on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America has been loath to carry out military actions in the Middle East. In its place, the State Department and Congress have chosen economic sanctions as a primary tool of American foreign policy to influence and punish rogue nations, organizations, corporations and individuals. Unfortunately, enacting sanctions and enforcing them are two different things. Some government officials and think tanks have asserted that sanctions are ineffective, counterproductive and overused.
\nThe Wall Street Journal reported in fall of 2021, \u201cThe Biden administration plans to limit the use of economic and financial sanctions \u2026 mark(ing) a potential turning point in U.S. foreign policy. The administration said it has considered rolling back the economy-crippling Iran sanctions, and has given priority to humanitarian waivers for Venezuela, Iran, and Afghanistan.\u201d
\nTargeted and fully enforced sanctions do work. Proof of the power of financial sanctions is Iran\u2019s recent threat to the European Union, warning them not to list its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity, as the U.S. has done. Would Iran make threats about this if economic sanctions were ineffective? The Supreme Leader and the IRGC control much of the Iranian economy.
\nThe power of sanctions also was evident with Iraq\u2019s recent complaints when, as the Journal reported, \u201cthe New York Fed began enforcing tighter controls on international dollar transactions by Iraqi commercial banks in a move to curtail money laundering and the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran and other heavily sanctioned Middle East countries. A U.S. official said the measures would limit the ability of malign actors to use the Iraqi banking system.\u201d
\nBut what if the real problem is not with the sanctions themselves but with the lack of will to enforce them thoroughly?
\nFor decades, U.S. presidents from both parties have acted as if they have exclusive authority in foreign affairs, marginalizing Congress and choosing which sanctions to enforce. So when Congress passes sanctions legislation, expecting the executive branch to comply with the law, it is still up to the White House to choose whether to enforce sanctions partially or not at all. For example, President Obama did not fully implement sanctions before or after concluding the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, perhaps sending Iran\u2019s notoriously wily negotiators the wrong message.
\nAccording to Ed Royce, then-chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, \u201cThe Obama administration has continuously stressed that it will \u2018vigorously\u2019 enforce sanctions on Iran even as it negotiates a nuclear agreement. But its failure to comply with the law because of its zeal for a nuclear deal has resulted in de facto sanctions relief for the Iranian regime.\u201d
\nSometimes the executive branch and Congress even fall behind our usually dovish European allies in sanctions legislation. This month, the Washington Beacon reported Europeans had taken stricter action than the Biden administration in implementing new sanctions against the Iranian regime for human rights abuses against protesters. According to United Against a Nuclear Iran, \u201cThe Biden administration has stopped short of designating the highest-ranking officials in the Islamic Republic and is not yet matching the designations of mid-level targets that have been announced by the U.K., Canada, and EU.\u201d
\nAs for American sanctions already in place, their implementation reportedly has been underwhelming: \u201cIranian oil sales to China have skyrocketed, jumping 40 percent, sparking accusations that the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to sanctions enforcement. \u2026 The U.S. has been notably reluctant to enforce its own oil sanctions against China.\u201d
\nAnd the Foundation for Democracies\u2019 senior adviser on Iran, Saeed Ghasseminejad, has said, \u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s failure to fully enforce its sanctions against Iran is helping the Islamist regime survive. Last year, Iran\u2019s non-oil exports reached their highest value, a clear sign the Biden administration has abandoned any serious effort to enforce sanctions.\u201d
\nThe issue of sanctions again came to mind as the Supreme Court deliberated the case of a Turkish bank, which is an arm of the Turkish government. Halkbank is asking the justices to protect it from charges of evasion of U.S. sanctions and money laundering for the Iranian regime because of sovereign immunity. The Turkish government is a majority stakeholder in the bank. Federal prosecutors allege a \u201cmultibillion-dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran\u201d between 2012 and 2016.
\nIf the Supreme Court rules in favor of Halkbank, allowing them to avoid sanctions in the name of sovereign immunity, then why would Iranian, Chinese or Russian corporations owned by their governments be subject to U.S. economic sanctions? Congress needs to weigh in, but the Global Magnitsky Act already allows the U.S. to sanction foreign government officials who are human rights abusers. Unfortunately, its full weight is not enforced on high-level officials such as Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader or its president.
\nAmerican national security interests would be better served if our adversaries felt the full effects of economic sanctions. Our foreign policy would be more respected and influential if we leveraged the consequences of sanctions, rather than watering them down. In the Middle East, our current policies are perceived as a weakness; it worries our allies and gives solace to our adversaries.
\nSanctions work only if they are strong, fully enforced, and given enough time to work. Our Middle East adversaries know Americans have a short attention span \u2014 their strategy is to wait us out. We must move our timeline to a Middle Eastern one, to get the most benefit from sanctions.
\nDr. Eric R. Mandel is the director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political Information Network. He regularly briefs members of Congress and their foreign policy aides. He is the senior security editor for the Jerusalem Report. Follow him on Twitter @gmelillopinOrg.<\/p>\n

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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