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On the Road to Snapback Sanctions

The news about the Iran conundrum is anything but encouraging. One could hope for positive signs. But here are highlights from Reuters, Newsweek and Al Jazeera. 

            Iranian and E3 foreign ministers made little progress in a September 17 telephone call aimed at averting 'snapback’ sanctions on Tehran being reimposed at the end of September. Germany's foreign ministry spokesperson said on X that the E3 had "underscored that Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary to reach an extension of resolution 2231", adding that sanctions would be reimposed "absent concrete actions in the coming days".  [An interesting point is that Germany is not in the UN Security Council and E3 action must be taken by France or the UK.]

            The U.S. issued on September 16 a new wave of sanctions against Iran. The Treasury Department said the measures focused on networks supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Defense, targeting people and entities involved in illicit fund transfers that benefit Iran’s military including transactions derived from Iranian oil sales. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said "Under President Trump's leadership, we will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran's weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond."

        Pretty tough for Iran to agree to talk when the U.S. continuously takes unilateral actions against it. The betting continues to be for ‘snapback’ sanctions in ten days.

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