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U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on Iran Over Missile Test U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on Iran Over Missile Test
(about 11 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday designated 25 individuals and entities associated “with Iran’s ballistic missile program,” including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, for sanctions in response to the missile test last weekend, according to a senior administration official. WASHINGTON — New sanctions that the Trump administration imposed on Friday to punish Tehran’s latest ballistic missile test marked the beginning of what officials called the end of an era in which the United States was “too tolerant of Iran’s bad behavior.”
The sanctions targeted “multiple entities and individuals involved in procuring technology and/or materials to support Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as for acting for or on behalf of, or providing support to, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” according to a Treasury Department statement. In what was described as the first in a series of efforts to confront Iran around the globe, the ban on banking transfers was levied against 25 Iranians and companies that officials said assisted in Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support of terrorist groups.
The new sanctions are intended to focus on suppliers to the missile program and on groups that help arm terrorist organizations, and they came two days after the Trump administration put Iran “on notice” about its missile tests and its support of terrorism. The immediate trigger for the sanctions, which drew from a list of targets drawn up last year by the Obama administration, was Iran’s missile test last Sunday. The exact details of the test remain shrouded in considerable mystery. But the way the two countries jabbed at each other — with the White House saying it would “no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests,” and Iranian state news media vowing retaliation — had distinct echoes of the darkest days before the July 2015 nuclear accord was reached.
The United States is somewhat constrained in imposing new sanctions. Under the nuclear deal with Iran, the United States and the other signers — Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — cannot reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, except if there is evidence that Iran has resumed its nuclear program in violation of the accord. There has been no such evidence. In striking that deal 19 months ago, the Obama administration was gambling that, over time, Washington and Tehran would learn how to manage their differences and cooperate on one or two discrete projects, starting with eliminating the Islamic State. But that era never arrived. And with the announcements on Friday, it became clearer than ever that leaders in both countries now see an advantage in taking a hard line — each betting that the other does not have the stomach for a risky, expensive confrontation.
But missile sanctions, and sanctions for sponsorship of terrorism, do not violate the agreement, which was limited to nuclear activities. “The danger is that this is the first stage in an escalation that could culminate in a military confrontation between Iran and the United States, or Iran and Israel,” said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The entire eight years of the Obama administration was an example of unprecedented but largely unreciprocated overtures for cooperation with Iran in the Middle East. The Iranians weren’t interested. And now, the Iranians sense the rest of the world would not line up with the Trump administration.”
Iran argues that a United Nations Security Council resolution, whose wording was negotiated in Vienna in 2015 at the same time the nuclear accord was reached, stops short of prohibiting missile tests. It simply urges Iran to refrain from such tests, if the missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. The sanctions themselves are unlikely to have a significant effect on Iranian action. They strike at specific companies and arms traders from Iran to Lebanon and China. Mr. Obama took similar steps a year ago, after another Iranian missile test. But by and large, his administration tried to de-escalate tensions — and at one point even assured European banks that, under the nuclear deal, they were free to resume transactions with Iran without fear of American retaliation.
Iranian officials have said that since the country has no nuclear weapons, it has no missiles designed to carry them. Outside experts note that a missile’s ability to carry a nuclear weapon depends on the design of its re-entry vehicle, which can be modified with relatively little work. In announcing the new sanctions, the White House made clear that it planned to call out every violation, and respond. The Treasury Department took the unusual step of describing the inner workings of three networks that produce technology for Iran around the globe, in an effort to expose front companies and signal a new level of pressure on Tehran.
A missile that was launched in recent days, at first not reported by the Iranians but later the subject of boasts from its military, traveled about 600 miles before the final stage exploded on re-entry. “The international community has been too tolerant of Iran’s bad behavior,” said Michael T. Flynn, the president’s national security adviser. “The ritual of convening a United Nations Security Council in an emergency meeting and issuing a strong statement is not enough. The Trump administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests.”
It is not yet clear what kind of ballistic missile was fired, or what kind of re-entry vehicle was atop it. But experts in the region have suggested the design may have been a version of North Korea’s medium-range Musudan missile, modified for Iranian needs. The two countries have long shared missile design technology, though usually for shorter-range missiles. Kate Bauer, a former Treasury official who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the sanctions and the announcements surrounding it were “a way to take back the narrative, to declare that this is not a ‘post-sanctions era.’”
Many experts have questioned whether new sanctions would have a significant practical effect. The companies that supply missile parts rarely have direct business with the United States, and allies have usually been reluctant to reimpose sanctions, many of which were lifted as part of the nuclear accord with Iran. “By providing so much public detail about the networks that feed Iran’s missile program,” she said, “they will cause significant disruption.”
But President Trump, who said on Twitter early Thursday morning that Iran was “ON NOTICE” and incorrectly said it had received $150 billion in the nuclear deal, has been eager to change the tone of dealings with Tehran. While the Obama administration often looked for reasons to avoid confrontation with Iran in its last year in office, Mr. Trump seems eager to challenge what he has said is an Iranian expansion across the region, especially in Iraq. Even inside the White House it is unclear how much further, beyond sanctions, President Trump is willing to take the confrontation. While he suggested during his campaign that he might scrap the nuclear deal, which he described as a “disaster,” both his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and his secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, made clear during their confirmation hearings that the world was better off with the accord, for the next decade at least, because of its prohibitions on Iran amassing enough enriched uranium or separated plutonium to manufacture even a single nuclear weapon.
Iran reacted sharply to a White House announcement Wednesday that also used the “on notice” language but that left little indication about what the administration was planning. In recent days, according to officials, there has been discussion of everything ranging from new economic pressure, which Mr. Trump’s aides understand has little impact, to more aggressive patrols in the Persian Gulf, including the possible interception of arms or parts. But no decisions have been made about more aggressive steps, officials say. The Iranians have largely complied with every provision of the deal, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which conducts regular inspections of the nuclear facilities. When small violations have been found, the Iranians have quickly rectified them, including by shipping fuel out of the country.
But nothing in the nuclear agreement deals with Iran’s support of Hezbollah or other terrorist groups, or its missile testing. A United Nations Security Council resolution, also negotiated in Vienna as the nuclear accord was being completed, calls on Iran to show restraint in testing, and prohibits test flights of a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead. Iran maintains that none of its missiles are designed for that purpose, though outside experts note it would be fairly easy to alter one to fit a warhead.
It is unclear exactly what Iran was testing last weekend. Its missile traveled about 600 miles before its re-entry vehicle exploded. That may have been accidental, or an intentional detonation. Reports in Germany have suggested that a cruise missile — harder to strike with missile defenses — was also launched, but American officials have not confirmed that.
But in both Washington and Tehran, the test itself was clearly less important than the symbolism of the moment. Mr. Trump wanted to demonstrate he would not tolerate even minor infractions of Iran’s commitments. For their part, the Iranians wanted to demonstrate that they would continue any activity not specifically prohibited by the nuclear accord, and would not be intimidated. On Friday, hours after the sanctions were announced, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran promised to impose “legal restrictions” on an unspecified number of American individuals and entities — in effect, a retaliatory blacklist.
Since Americans are already prohibited from doing business in Iran, it was far from clear what they had in mind.
In a statement carried on state television, the ministry said the identities of the American targets would be announced later, and that those targeted “were involved in helping and founding regional terrorist groups.”
That appeared to be a response to a part of the sanctions aimed at Iran’s support for various proxy forces in the region, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A senior administration official called Iran’s moves “destabilizing.” Asked whether the administration believed Iran controlled everything that Houthi rebels were doing in Yemen, he conceded that Tehran may not make every tactical decision but said it arms and supports the rebels.
He said that the sanctions were “initial steps in response to Iranian provocative behavior.” The official spoke at a briefing for reporters under rules, set by the administration, that prohibited naming those conducting it.
Democrats did not criticize the sanctions, and even some former members of the Obama administration said they saw value in pushing back against the Iranians. But Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned against provoking Iran into further action.
“I urge the administration to bring clarity to their overall strategy towards Iran, and to refrain from ambiguous rhetoric — or provocative tweets — that will exacerbate efforts to confront those challenges.”