Today the world buzzes with reports of a secret nuclear site somehow unearthed in Iran (I haven’t heard how exactly this unfolded quite yet), and the dilemma: how to “punish” a country that is already knee deep in sanctions? An NPR piece summarized the following problem: even with the current multilateral sanctions on Iran, Iran’s GDP is estimated to grow 2% next year. Trade with Iran continues through Dubai. Clarification: just because the GDP grows, don’t mean the average man sees it. Average Iranians have lived with high unemployment, low income for years; the source was unclear whether this is thought to be an effect of the sanctions or of mismanagement [will post NPR link soon].
A few things to think about:
1. It is wrong to talk flippantly about how to punish a country. Iranians screamed out to the world that they are not their leaders and are prepared to die to change the actions of these leaders. We need to figure out how to punish/regulate the leaders, in partnership with the people.
2. There have never been complete sanctions on Iran and there probably will never be.
The unrecognized elephant in the room is that, if we were really to punish Iran and specifically Iranian leaders, we would stop them from selling oil. In order to do that, of course:
How silly of course. It’s easier to prohibit an entire nation (74million) of people from buying and selling the things they need for survival, such as: antibiotics, scholastic jourals, airplane parts, food, and even to consider military intervention, than to organize sanctions that would affect Iran’s leaders. A freeze on Iran’s oil would be harsh; but why not free up access to basic goods and freeze up the sale of oil. You’d see how quickly things change.