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Beyond Iran Sanctions

(National Review) Juan C. Zarate - The U.S.-led financial-sanctions campaign currently under way against Iran is biting, but it isn't enough. The sanctions can exacerbate internal regime fissures and increase the isolation of the regime; they can also buy time by delaying supplies Iran needs for its nuclear program, interrupt flows of funds sent to terrorist proxies, and serve as a diplomatic chip if the regime ever comes to the table. But we need to use this pressure as a starting point, and use multiple lines of pressure at once against Tehran. The U.S. Treasury should enforce sanctions on any entity doing business with the IRGC or the 16 designated Iranian banks. This could be followed by the designation of Iran and its central bank as "primary money laundering concerns" under the Patriot Act, signaling to the international financial community not to trust any Iranian commercial activity. Indeed, the Treasury added the German-based European-Iranian Trade Bank AG to its blacklist just last week. The U.S. should also promote international scrutiny on Iran's support for terrorist proxies and militias, and request that the UN committees responsible for dealing with terrorism report on Iranian support for the Taliban and explain what the Iranians are doing with senior al-Qaeda leadership in Iran. The writer, a former assistant secretary of the Treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes, is now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
2010-09-21 08:56:06
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