The US is embarking on a diplomatic push to isolate Iran’s financial infrastructure further and reinforce new sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic. In doing so, it is trying to co-opt institutions in the United Arab Emirates, a close ally.
Last month, the US and UK applied stronger sanctions on the Islamic Republic to try to slow its nuclear programme. Then this week, the European Union expanded a blacklist of Iranian companies and individuals and threatened more sanctions targeting Iran’s financial and oil sectors.
The US Senate has also passed measures aimed at the Iranian central bank, which receives the country’s oil export revenues, though the House of Representatives and President Barack Obama – who is believed to be sceptical – have yet to approve the measure. The threat of these new sanctions prompted one Iranian official to warn that their implementation could push crude prices to $250 a barrel.
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