Why isn’t Biden enforcing his own sanctions against Iran?

Excerpt

The Biden administration periodically promulgates new sanctions against Iran and its proxies. That is a sound policy. But sanctions without enforcement are easy to circumvent. 

Case in point: Last Tuesday, the Biden administration announced new sanctions against Iran Air, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s flagship airline, and its 67 aircraft. The reason: Iran Air transported weapons to Russia, including long-range missiles, in support of Moscow’s murderous aggression against Ukraine. European allies have also suspended bilateral air service agreements.  

Iran Air will now likely lose all its eight current routes to Europe. It is an important step, but it will only affect Iran’s malign behavior if the Biden administration now implements these sanctions by seizing aircraft at any international airport. Washington must also punish ground service providers and intermediaries with sanctions for providing material support to Iran’s aircraft. 

Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan research foundation based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on national security and foreign policy.