By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/THE HAGUE (Worthy News) – The United States and European allies have pledged more sanctions against Iran, but differences remain on whether to designate the country’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is a front-runner to become the next general secretary of the NATO military alliance, told parliament he wants the IRGC to be on Europe’s terrorist list. “However, disagreements remain” within the European Union on this issue, he said in a debate watched by Worthy News.
At the same time, the EU and the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden want Israel to limit its response to Iran’s attack, which saw Tehran firing hundreds of drones and missiles toward Israel over the weekend.
There are Western concerns that Israel’s retaliation could lead to a regional war, as Arab nations are already condemning Israel’s strikes against Hamas in Gaza.
“Further significant escalation will only deepen instability in the region,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Tuesday evening. “This is a moment for calm heads to prevail.”
Yet U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made clear that these worries won’t stop Washington from hitting Iran with new sanctions over its unprecedented attack on Israel.
Yellen said these actions could seek to reduce Iran’s capacity to export oil. “I fully expect that we will take additional sanctions action against Iran in the coming days,” Yellen told reporters in Washington.
EXPORT OIL
“Clearly, Iran is continuing to export some oil. There may be more that we could do.”
A senior Treasury official told reporters the department was working to enlist the aid of China, Group of Seven (G7) partners, and other major global suppliers to erode Iran’s ability to continue to export oil.
The U.S. also seeks to prevent the export of microelectronics Tehran needed for the drones it used to attack Israel and was selling to Russia, Worthy News learned.
Yet despite the rhetoric, some analysts said the Biden administration was unlikely to seek to sharpen sanctions on Iran’s oil exports due to worries about a significant spike in oil prices and angering top buyer China.
Yellen countered that the U.S. would work with allies and pass sanctions in the coming days to keep disrupting Iran’s “malign and destabilizing activity.”
“We don’t preview our sanctions tools. But in discussions I’ve had, all options to disrupt terrorist financing of Iran continue to be on the table,” Yellen stressed.
Similar sentiments were expressed in Europe, where the European Union’s foreign policy chief said the European Union would prepare to expand its sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran’s attack on Israel.
EMERGENCY MEETING
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, confirmed their plans Tuesday after an emergency video conference of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
Borrell said several EU members proposed expanding a sanctions regime that seeks to curb the supply of Iranian drones to Russia to include the provision of missiles and cover deliveries to Iranian proxies in the Middle East.
Germany, France, and several other EU members have publicly backed such a proposal.
Borrell said he supported the proposal and diplomats would work on it in the coming days so ministers could discuss it again at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. However, Borrell reiterated the EU’s position that the corps could only be designated as a terrorist organization if a national authority in the EU found that the group had been involved in terrorist activity.
Nevertheless, a bipartisan letter with more than 130 members of the U.S. Congress urged the EU to designate Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organization. “Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror. For decades, the IRGC has freely and openly carried out plots targeting citizens in countries across the EU,” said the letter seen by Worthy News.
“A recent study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point showed that in the last five years, Iran has instigated at least 33 plots to surveil, abduct, or assassinate citizens in Europe,” the Members wrote.
The letter was initiated by U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Manning, the Vice Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Tom Kean Jr., Chair of the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman Bill Keating, the Ranking Member of the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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