How to Sanction Iran: Target the IRGC
By Matthew Levitt
The most robust and effective non-military tool available to the international community in its effort to deal with Iran is to apply Resolution 1737 in full – targeting the IRGC.
As I argue in an OpEd published in today’s Washington Times, a simple reading of Resolution 1737 requires member states to apply financial measures against the financial assets and economic resources controlled by the head of the IRGC. Moreover, targeted financial measures against the IRGC can work, for several reasons: Enforcing this existing multilateral sanction requires the passage of no new domestic legislation; it fulfills Europe's strong preference for only multilateral action against Iran; it targets bad actors vs. the population at large; it buttresses domestic criticism of the regime's cronyism; and it pulls at the purse strings of the specific element of the Iranian bureaucracy responsible for the regime's most egregious behavior.
Read the full OpEd here.
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