December 12, 2020
How US Sanctions Are Pushing Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea Closer Together
Three of the most heavily sanctioned states – Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela – are strengthening their strategic partnerships as U.S. sanctions continue to squeeze their finances. In recent years, this emerging coalition has sought enhanced military, intelligence, economic, and cybercrime collaboration in evading U.S. sanctions. With sophistication and growth, these countries could become more adept at evading sanctions and expanding military capabilities that threaten U.S. national security. Moreover, sanctions-induced humanitarian repercussions incur immense reputational costs for the United States and can bolster anti-American rhetoric, which legitimizes the regimes to their populations. American policymakers should consider how to adapt sanctions implementation to undercut the hostile coalition of sanctioned nations and their growing ability to harm U.S. security interests and threaten the safety of our allies.
American policymakers should consider how to adapt sanctions implementation to undercut the hostile coalition of sanctioned nations.
U.S. policy vis-a-vis Iran has not effectively deterred Iran-North Korean collaboration in weapons development, a trend that is true with and without the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The two autocratic states always had shared distrust in American foreign policy, and were pushed closer together once the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA and ramped up sanctions. North Korean diplomat Ri Yong Ho remarked during a visit to Iran in 2018 that U.S. policy on Iran makes it “untrustworthy and unreliable,” and that Iran and North Korea had “always had close views” on many issues. This enmity toward the United States at the highest level manifests in almost every aspect of North Korean-Iranian interaction.
Read the full article in The Diplomat.
More from CNAS
-
Sanctions by the Numbers
Reports
Sanctions designations remained high in 2020, with 777 designations compared to 785 in 2019....
By Sam Dorshimer & Francis Shin
-
America’s Use of Coercive Economic Statecraft
Reports
Policymakers will continue to intensively use a growing array of coercive economic tools, including tariffs, sanctions, trade controls, and investment restrictions....
By Elizabeth Rosenberg, Peter Harrell, Paula J. Dobriansky & Adam Szubin
-
Sharper: 2020
Commentary
2020 featured an ever-evolving series of national security challenges....
By Sam Dorshimer, Nathalie Grogan, Emily Jin, Chris Estep & Cole Stevens
-
How Harsh U.S. Sanctions Are Advancing Chinese and Russian Interests Abroad
Commentary
Harsh U.S. sanctions have pushed Venezuela and Iran further into the arms of traditional U.S. adversaries....
By Jason Bartlett & Emily Jin
