Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/treasury-sanctions-iran-gaza-israel-hezbollah-lebanon-5c3d798a1916e4ee197b13d000a776c1
In response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel, the U.S is now implementing new sanctions on Iran. These sanctions are in an attempt to weaken Iran’s trading, shipping and energy producing power in hopes that it will make them weaker militarily. Additionally, these sanctions are meant to keep American citizens and businesses from being involved with any Iranian resources. The U.S created these sanctions in order to better protect America along with its allied countries including Israel.
In my previous blog post, I wrote about the missile attack of Israel from Iran. This article explains the U.S’s response against Iran as an ally of Israel. Just as Iran’s missile attack was in response to Israel’s attack on Hezbollah, this U.S sanction against Iran is in response to their attack on Israel showing how many international ordeals are related. This was a very important move by the U.S because it is turning the war into an even larger, more involved war by involving more countries such as the UAE, Liberia, Hong Kong, Suriname, India and Malaysia who are being affected by this sanction either positively being allied with the U.S or negatively because business is being taken away from their country because there is now less trade with Iran. It is also giving this war more of an economic platform because these sanctions deal with trading and oil rather than purely militaristic materials or ideas.
I expect that Iran will respond by being more hostile towards the U.S and continue their war against Israel. I expect the U.S to continue to show their support financially because I don’t believe the American people will support direct military action in Israel. This decision relates to class because this can all be related back to national interest. It was in Iran’s national interest to launch their missiles in order to show their support for Hezbollah along with reassuring their people. It was in the U.S’s national interest to create and strengthen these sanctions because it did not place American lives at risk while working against Iran. National interest is a huge driving factor for what decisions countries will make in regards to international relations and understanding national interest can help to understand countries’ decision making.