Following up on tough talk, Trump administration adds sanctions on Iran

Two days after warning that it was putting Iran “on notice,” the Trump administration imposed relatively mild economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic as punishment for last Sunday’s ballistic missile test and its support for militant groups in regional conflicts.

The penalties, which target 25 Iranian companies and individuals, appeared calibrated to increase pressure on Iran without jeopardizing the landmark nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration, or creating a new international crisis.

“The Trump administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests,” American newspaper Los Angeles Times quoted National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as saying.

The sanctions are largely symbolic since they target groups that are unlikely to have U.S. assets or business dealings. 

They were announced a day after the Trump administration also appeared to show restraint on two other foreign fronts where the new president previously had suggested he would order a sharp shift.

On Thursday, the White House publicly appealed to Israel not to expand construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying doing so “may not be helpful” in achieving peace.

That suggested a far less radical approach to the Israel-Palestinian conflict than Trump has staked out in the past, and it set clear limits for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to the White House on Feb. 15.

The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, similarly presented the establishment view of Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea and armed intervention in Ukraine during her debut speech Thursday to the U.N. Security Council.

Although Trump has previously refused to condemn the Russian intervention, and suggested he might ease U.S. sanctions on Moscow, Haley said the United States would not lift sanctions until Moscow stopped destabilizing Ukraine and withdrew from Crimea.

Trump’s unconventional foreign policy continues to vex allies and adversaries alike. 

In the last week, he has squabbled over the phone with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, and spurred sharp concerns by imposing a broad travel ban on visitors from seven mostly-Muslim nations.

The combination of aggressive rhetoric and less aggressive action seemed to be part of a struggle between bluster and pragmatism in the young administration.

The sanctions on Iran have “real value” by making it more difficult for Tehran to procure missile-building materials “but there is no new ground here,” said Richard Nephew, a sanctions expert who was part of the Obama administration team that helped negotiate the 2015 international accord that curbed Iran’s nuclear development programs.

Nephew said the sanctions, targeting 13 people and 12 companies in Iran, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, were identical to Obama-era measures imposed before and after the nuclear deal was signed.

Source: MENA