United States still considering fresh sanctions on Iran

On December 30 the White House notified congress that new sanctions against Tehran would be announced that day, according to the Wall Street Journal. But later that night it said the sanctions were being indefinitely delayed.

The United States fears imposing sanctions against Iran will harm president Hassan Rouhani’s prospects as elections near. Ebrahim Noroozi / AP Photo

NEW YORK // The Obama administration is still weighing whether it will impose fresh sanctions on Iran over ballistic missile tests conducted late last year, after preparing and then suddenly delaying the new measures last week.

The administration has not given a new timeline for when it will impose the financial sanctions. Both supporters and opponents of the nuclear deal struck with Tehran last July say the delay is likely due to administration concerns that the move would undermine the government of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani – who is seen by the White House as a moderate – ahead of national elections next month.

There are also concerns that sanctions would complicate the implementation of the nuclear agreement that US officials have said could come into effect as early as this month.

The US treasury sent a draft of the sanctions to congress and on December 30 the White House notified legislators that an announcement would be made that day, the Wall Street Journal reported. But later that night the White House informed congress that the sanctions were being indefinitely delayed.

“We are fully prepared to use sanctions with respect to this most recent ballistic missile test [and] are still working through some technical issues there,” US state department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday (January 5).

Critics say the delay came in response to Iranian outrage over the sanctions. If imposed the sanctions will be the first since Tehran and world powers signed a historic accord blocking Iran’s ability to quickly make a nuclear weapon in exchange for the unfreezing of up to US$100 billion (Dh367.2bn) in assets and the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

US secretary of state John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammed Javad Zarif, held a number of phone calls last week. Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that the two countries’ diplomats held talks to discuss the impending sanctions.

Last month, a United Nations panel of experts concluded that Iran had violated UN Security Council resolution 1929 – which was put in place in 2010 to stop Iran from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead – by conducting tests of a new medium-range Emad ballistic missile in October. The panel has not ruled on a second test conducted in November.

UN sanctions on Iran are to be lifted once the nuclear deal is implemented and replaced with an eight-year ban on the development of ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear bombs. Iran has insisted that the Emad is for defensive purposes and not specifically designed to carry a nuclear weapon.

The planned financial sanctions as a result of the October test would target almost a dozen companies, individuals and Iranian officials, according to the Wall Street Journal report. They include UAE-based Mabrooka Trading and its owner, Hossein Pournaghshband, for allegedly sourcing carbon fibre for the missiles.

New sanctions ahead of the nuclear deal’s implementation would likely be used by Iranian hardliners opposed to the deal to undermine more moderate candidates allied with the Iranian government.

“The overriding assumption the administration has is that [they should not take steps that undermine] Rouhani before the elections and that by emboldening him before the February elections you’re somehow supporting a more moderate, pragmatic Iranian approach to foreign policy,” said Mark Dubowitz, a critic of the administration’s Iran policies who heads the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy think tank’s Centre on Sanctions and Illicit Finance.

“If anything I think all it’s going to do is encourage more Iranian blackmail and it’s actually going to strengthen these hardliners that the administration is so intent on undercutting,” Mr Dubowitz said.

Last Thursday, Mr Rouhani ordered his defence minister to expand the ballistic missile programme and called the sanctions “illegal intervention in Tehran’s right to boost its defensive power.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamanei, has said that new sanctions would be a violation of the nuclear deal.

In addition to the expected Republican denunciations of the delay as a sign of caving to Iran, congressional Democrats on both sides of the nuclear deal issue have increased pressure on US president Barack Obama to implement the sanctions.

In a letter by House Democrats sent to Mr Obama on Wednesday, legislators called on the president to honour promises over strict enforcement of sanctions on issues such as Iran’s missile programme.

The delay could negatively impact Democratic candidates in this year’s US elections.

“Iran’s destabilising behaviour in the region and continued support for terrorism represent an unacceptable threat to our closest allies as well as our own national security,” the Democrats wrote. “As the international community prepares for implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the nuclear deal), Iran must understand that violating international laws, treaties, and agreements will have serious consequences.”

Observers expected the sanctions to be issued at some point, likely after the Iranian elections, though Mr Dubowitz said he anticipated there would be concessions to Iran that would “tamp down potential backlash”.

The controversy over the delayed sanctions is likely to feed perceptions among US allies in the Arabian Gulf that the Obama administration wants to normalise relations with Tehran at their expense.

US secretary of state John Kerry spoke with counterparts in the Gulf on Tuesday and Wednesday – including Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs – about the increased regional tensions and to “urge calm and to keep the focus on resolving the pressing crises in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and elsewhere”, said state department spokesman Mr Kirby.