One of the draft’s most encouraging aspects is its seven-paragraph section on sanctions enforcement. … The UN draft also restates the Sanctions Committee’s authority to target additional individuals and entities. … With this authority, the Sanctions Committee could—given the requisite political will—move much more quickly to address the technical problem of new front companies. However, it does not seem that this authority for additional designations has to date been exercised by the Sanctions Committee. The Committee has not been active and has lacked resources. Hopefully this will change, as called for by other paragraphs in the draft resolution. …
Several passages of the draft resolution call on member states to “exercise vigilance” toward certain activities related to Iran, particularly transactions involving Iranian banks or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), business dealings between a given state’s nationals and Iranian entities, and any provision of arms and related materiel or maintenance to Iran. … More specifically, the provisions… provide a basis for individual states to enact laws or regulations that, at a minimum, boost the scrutiny and cost involved for any of their nationals who seek to do business with Iran. Some states … may use the call for vigilance as an opportunity to go beyond the resolution’s requirements and formally prohibit a given activity. …
One of the draft resolution’s key objectives is to influence Iranian decisionmaking about the nuclear program. Despite the international focus on the nuclear issue, however, Iran’s leaders… are primarily concerned about domestic politics. Therefore, the global community’s leverage on Iran will greatly depend on how the sanctions affect the Iranian domestic political scene. This realization lends particular importance to how the United States and other actors explain new sanctions to the Iranian people, who do not necessarily understand the objectives and strategy of the P-5+1. … In short, how the sanctions are explained to the people of Iran may be as important as what sanctions are adopted. Access the full analysis>>
