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The Right Sanctions Can Still Stop Iran

(Wall Street Journal) Danielle Pletka - There is one word we don't hear in connection with possible Iran sanctions: effective. With the Islamic Republic getting closer and closer to enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, only a game-changing set of coordinated and punitive economic and political measures can force the regime to make unpalatable choices. Achieving international consensus on some kinds of draconian measures may well be impossible. But that may not be necessary, if the U.S. is willing to throw its full might behind a truly tough sanctions regime, and if, as diplomats suggest privately, there is now significant enthusiasm in Britain and France for an ad hoc coalition pressing forward with new sanctions. Among possible new options: a complete travel ban for all regime officials, a ban on all correspondent relationships with Iranian banks (which facilitate letters of credit and foreign financing of Iranian business and trade), and an end to all export financing. Also: denial of landing rights to Iran Air and denial of access to capital markets for Iran's most important investors and commercial partners. Sanctions such as these will hit hardest at the regime, and affect ordinary Iranians only incidentally. They will also deepen the divide between the public and the military-religious dictatorship, targeting the means of regime enrichment that comes all too often at the expense of the Iranian public. The writer is vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
2009-12-11 08:13:53
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