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WSJ: Karoline Leavitt has been personally issuing sanctions orders - link
| ,.,,.,.,,,,,,..................... | 06/06/25 |
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Date: June 6th, 2025 6:45 PM Author: ,.,,.,.,,,,,,..................... Why not give her access to the nuclear codes as well?
It’s remarkable what a little sunlight can do. On Monday these pages reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, working with the new National Security Council, had instructed the Treasury and State Departments to pause all new sanctions activity against Iran. The news didn’t go over well with President Trump, and by Tuesday we heard the pause had been lifted.
On Friday the Administration confirmed it by issuing new Iran sanctions, the first since May 21. Treasury designated 10 individuals and 27 entities from Iran, China, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates that it says were involved in a shadow-banking network laundering billions of dollars for the Iranian regime. Pressure, which Iran will need to feel for the U.S. to secure a deal worth making, is back.
The Trump Administration also imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court Thursday. It designated four judges who exceeded ICC jurisdiction to pile on Israel and the U.S., neither of which is a party to the treaty that established the court. This is a good, if incremental, step. Unless sanctions hit professional staff or the court itself, the ICC will wait out Mr. Trump again without real change.
The renewed sanctions push against Iran is making a difference. Already it has forced Iran to increase the discount it offers Chinese oil buyers, and the quantity of Iran’s oil exports fell in May, per preliminary data from cargo-tracking firm Vortexa Ltd. Iran exported more than 1.1 million barrels a day of crude and condensate to China, a drop of about 20% compared with the same period a year ago.
As nuclear talks approach Mr. Trump’s two-month deadline for a decision, it doesn’t make sense to tap the sanctions brakes. Iran has to know its negotiators won’t be given time to stall. Not while Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejects the key U.S. term that Iran give up its capability to enrich uranium domestically—and with it the path to a bomb.
Two International Atomic Energy Agency reports last week exposed Iran’s production of more highly enriched uranium and its yearslong campaign to deceive inspectors, hide nuclear activities and cover them up after it was caught. In response, European states and the U.S. are preparing a tough resolution for the next IAEA board meeting.
Words aren’t enough. Better to hit the Ayatollah in the wallet with snapback international sanctions, which were part of the 2015 nuclear deal. Western powers have until October to trigger them, but by then it could be too late. Iran needs to feel the heat now, lest the regime think it can shield its economy and nuclear program merely by showing up for talks. |