The Hill: US Sanctions on Iran Bound to Fail

The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May. US companies must show they are ending economic exchanges with Iran in a range of industries before the end of the year. The US president has also announced secondary sanctions that impose the “same restrictions on all economic entities outside the United States that continue economic engagement with Iran in prohibited trade or finance,” explains George Lopez for the Hill. The expectation is that most countries would prefer to trade with the US as the world’s largest economy rather than Iran as about the 25th largest. Lopez questions whether the sanctions would attract cooperation or achieve regime change: “sanctions attract allies only if they are mechanisms in service to a foreign policy that also employs other diplomatic tools to attain their goals,” Lopez explains. He predicts the US trade war will undermine cooperation around sanctions. Countries like China, Russia, Turkey and India will also find reasons and ways to support Iran. Oil prices could rise and help Iran withstand the sanctions. Lopez urges a coherent foreign policy for the United States. – YaleGlobal