Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Trump for reimposing sanctions on Iran following his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year. These actions against the shared foe have been called for by the Israeli government since the agreement was first signed by President Obama.

“Thank you, President Trump, for this historic move. The sanctions are indeed coming,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

His statement was a direct response to a Tweet the President sent out that mimicked a popular Game of Thrones line.



Many associated with the HBO show as well as a ton of the show’s left-leaning fans took great offense. HBO itself even Tweeted out a threat.

How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki? — HBO (@HBO) November 2, 2018



The sanctions, confirmed Friday, will take effect Monday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “These sanctions will target the core of Iran’s economy and they are far tougher than any sanctions that have previously been imposed on Iran.”

These sanctions are layered. The first layer prohibits any company that trades with Iran from doing business in the United States. The second layer targets domestic companies who do business with companies that do business with Iran.

It’s this second layer of sanctions that will be most effective, as the United States’ business sector will have much further reach when they tell their partners, suppliers, and distributors abroad that they won’t be working with them any longer.

Most in the EU, which wishes to maintain the status quo within the parameters of the nuclear deal despite America dropping out, are working towards finding workarounds that will allow them to continue to trade with Iran while not jeopardizing their relationships with American companies.

According to the BBC, the EU workarounds won’t work for long.

Can Iran survive sanctions? Even with the EU plan in place, the costs of doing any Iran-related business could still be too high for many companies. Even with the EU plan in place, the costs of doing any Iran-related business could still be too high for many companies. For example, even if the shipping operator were to purchase oil through the SPV mechanism, the company insuring the cargo may still face the threat of secondary sanctions and the potential loss of all its business in the United States.

Iran’s economy isn’t directly reliant on the US financial system, says Richard Nephew, a sanctions expert and senior researcher at Columbia University.

“But the issue is that most of Iran’s biggest trading partners do and that affects their readiness to put at risk their access to the United States to do business with Iran.”

My Take

Iran will not be able to last long under these conditions. It’s imperative that the United States uses this to make clear what we expect from Iran going forward.

This isn’t just about nuclear weapons. Iran’s non-nuclear arsenal is regularly used against American interests, including Israel. They do this normally through proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, but they’ve been more directly involved in regional conflicts, including the wars in Yemen and Syria as well as domestic disputes in Iraq.

For these sanctions to be effective, the United States will need others in the international community to help set clear expectations of Iran’s future. That includes helping their own people, towards which Tehran has been remiss for decades.