US should snap back UN sanctions to counter Iran’s drone and missile exports

Excerpt

The ransom-for-hostages deal between Washington and Tehran will not change a grim fact: Russia is pummeling Ukraine with kamikaze drones made and supplied by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The U.S. has condemned these actions as a “direct violation” of a United Nations embargo. Yet this critical restriction ends in less than two months, and Washington still has no plan to extend it.  

The Biden administration must not idly stand by as Tehran and Russia strengthen their dangerous alliance. It must work with its European partners to maintain the drone embargo and a related missile embargo. Moreover, the UN Security Council must snap back previous international sanctions on Iran before the clock runs out. 

Anthony Ruggiero, former National Security Council senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense in the Trump administration, is a senior fellow and senior director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the program. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.