Tipsheet

U.S. Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 16, 2024 8:15 PM

On Tuesday night, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the United States would be imposing sanctions against Iran. Over the weekend, Iran launched a missile attack against Israel for the very first time. Given that the United States does not appear willing to support Israel's retaliation against Iran, this looks to be the action they're willing to take. Fortunately, most of the missiles were blocked by Israel's Iron Dome. But, President Joe Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not take retaliatory action, a move that was applauded by the far-left, anti-Israel members of the Squad. He's also made other problematic statements about the attack. 

As Axios reported about the announcement: 

The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program after the country's unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced Tuesday evening.

Why it matters: President Biden is urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exercise military restraint. But in the economic sphere, the administration is demonstrating a willingness to retaliate against Iran.

  • These new sanctions and other ones Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is preparing represent a subtle message to Israel that there is more than one way to harm the ruling regime in Tehran.

...

  • The new sanctions will also target entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran's Defense Ministry. "We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions," Sullivan said.
  • Meanwhile, Yellen vowed that the U.S. "will not hesitate" to inflict economic punishment in response to Iran's attack.

What's next: Yellen will press fellow finance ministers — visiting D.C. for the annual spring IMF meetings this week — to focus their governments on possible sanctions work with the U.S. on coordinated actions.

  • "Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime's malign and destabilizing activity," Yellen is prepared to say Tuesday during her opening remarks at a press conference.
  • "The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury's work to use our economic tools to counter Iran's malign activity," she will say, according to a copy of her remarks obtained by Axios.
  • The G7 is also considering sanctions with the goal of isolating Iran internationally and increasing economic pressure on the regime, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.

While the Axios report may be hopeful, it's worth reminding that the United States already had sanctions in place against Iran, and yet the Biden administration has still allowed them to access billions of dollars thanks to the release of $6 billion as part of a hostage negotiation, unfreezing $10 billion by extending a waiver sanction for funds frozen in Iraq, and the refusal to enforce oil sanctions on Iran

The $6 billion that was released as part of a hostage negotiation--with that announcement coming on the anniversary of September 11, no less--is mentioned towards the very end of the report. It also comes in the context of how "Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for not doing more to check the aggression of Iran and Iranian-backed forces throughout the Middle East." 

The announcement also comes as Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for more sanctions against Iran. 

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In addition to the sanctions and a resolution condemning Iran's attack on Israel, the Republican-controlled House is looking to consider many more pieces of legislation against the Iranian government, to the chagrin of Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), a member of the Squad. 

Israel does not plan on listening to Biden's directives. In reference to the Axios report, they don't need any kind of message, "subtle" or otherwise, about how to deal with enemies looking to attack them. As Katie covered on Monday, Israel has decided to ignore Biden's insistence that they not respond. Israel will respond "Clearly and Decisively" against Iran.