US Sanctions Entities Linked to Iran Drone Production
Israel Attack: US Sanctions Entities Linked to Iran's Drone MakersProduction
The Facts
The US today imposed new sanctions on 16 individuals and two entities involved with Iran's drone making, days after it launched a largely unsuccessful attack on Israel.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the aim was to "degrade and disrupt" key aspects of Iran’s offensive activity, making it "harder and costlier" for Iran to stay course.The US on Thursday imposed new sanctions on 16 individuals and two firms involved with Iran's drone manufacturing, days after it launched an attack on Israel.
The Spin
While Western sanctions are an important step to defanging Iran's dangerous drone manufacturing programs, even more should be done. The US's previous sanctions on Iranian drone makers in 2023 have earlier prompted Russia to help Iran in this arena. TeheranTehran's pivot towards Russia posesis risksdangerous ofgeopolitically potential backlash in the region and givesallows itIran confidence to manoeuvreskirt the consequences of sanctions regime. Essentially,Western thepowers USneed needs to dobuild muchon moresanctions thanand meretarget imposingdismantling sanctionsIranian todrone defangcapabilities Iran'sand dronethe capabilitiesnations that enable it.
Iran's bold attack on Israel with over 300 missiles and drones, though ineffective, has posed a challenge for its Western allies to balance support for Israel with restraint. The attack may push them towards nuclearincreasing and dangerous escalation, potentially triggering further conflict with Israel. The situation remains highly unpredictable and fraught with risks, and Western hegemonic powers have proved unable to dampen the escalation potential.
