Breaking Up Sanctions Is Hard to Do

The Obama administration is moving closer to a landmark deal with Tehran that would impose new restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for loosening the punishing international sanctions that have brought the country’s economy to its knees.

But if a deal is struck — which is far from guaranteed — dismantling the U.S. restrictions against Iran that have been layered on by successive presidential decrees and congressional directives is not going to happen overnight. The Treasury Department website lists 26 executive orders related to Iran sanctions, dating back to President Jimmy Carter’s original command to freeze the assets of the Iranian government in the United States during the embassy hostage crisis in 1979. There are also 10 statutes, four United Nations Security Council resolutions, and tens of European Union regulations and amendments to implement the U.N.’s sanctions.
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This idea of lifting the bulk of the most onerous sanctions quickly has critics concerned that the United States will lose all leverage to go after Tehran for the other alleged transgressions that have prompted sanctions, including human rights abuses and supporting terrorism.

“They may yet meet the criteria for the nuclear deal, which in effect might qualify them to be removed from the proliferation sanctions regime, but there are still many questions that remain about Iran’s support for Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and beyond,” said Jonathan Schanzer, head of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a group that advocates for tougher sanctions.

“What we have is the potential, at least in theory, for the financial system to open its arms to a regime that still supports a range of illicit financial activity,” Schanzer said.

Lifting sanctions could also empower Iran, critics warn, by providing the Islamic regime a boost at a time when its influence is already on the rise in places like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
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