Israel Matzav: Shocka: 'Crippling sanctions' won't have much effect on Iran

Shocka: 'Crippling sanctions' won't have much effect on Iran

You probably could have guessed this: Those 'crippling sanctions' that Secretary of State Clinton has been waving at Iran are unlikely to have any effect on it. And you can probably guess at least some of the reasons why:

Effective sanctions, say Administration officials, require participation by Iran's key trading partners. That's a problem, since neither Russia nor China is convinced that there's an imminent danger of Iran producing nuclear weapons. Coalition of the willing–style sanctions of the sort envisaged by the congressional legislation may have limited impact because they're unlikely to be implemented by neighbors such as Turkey and Iraq. And the use of naval power to enforce a blockade could easily provoke a war that the U.S. military is eager to avoid.

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Israel Matzav: Shocka: 'Crippling sanctions' won't have much effect on Iran

Israel Matzav: Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

An American expert on Iran says that there is no way Iran will respond to President Obama's 'engagement' initiative by September, but it seems that the United States will be willing to wait longer.

"To think that at the same time as putting together his cabinet in the midst of the largest uprising since the Iranian revolution, and oh by the way, figure out a way to respond to the United States, that is just not going to happen," said Reza Aslan, an Iran expert and author in Los Angeles.

"He is going to have such a difficult time forming a government, let alone governing, and quite likely he will not even last another year. Any previous idea of a timeline needs to be thrown out the window," Aslan said

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Israel Matzav: Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

Israel Matzav: Keeping refined oil products out of Iran would require patrolling off its coast

Keeping refined oil products out of Iran would require patrolling off its coast

In an New York Times article on potential sanctions to be imposed on Iran to prevent it from obtaining refined oil products, David Sanger outlines some of the enforcement difficulties.

The legislation would impose sanctions on any company that sold or delivered gasoline to Iran, cutting it off from selling to the United States government and seeking to freeze its financing or shipping insurance. But many experts fear that true enforcement would require patrols off the Iranian coast, and that could lead to confrontations with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Given that North Korea has already openly tested nuclear weapons and the United Nations sanctions on it don't even allow other countries to board its ships and check for contraband, what do you think the odds are that Obama will get UN approval for patrols of the type described in the previous paragraph. Perhaps that's why the Israelis are impatient with Obama.

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Israel Matzav: Keeping refined oil products out of Iran would require patrolling off its coast

Israel Matzav: Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran

Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran

Haaretz reports that the Obama administration officials who were in Israel this past week briefed the Israeli government on proposed sanctions against Iran (Hat Tip: Save the GOP).

New sanctions would mainly aim to significantly curb Tehran's ability to import refined petroleum products. Despite its huge crude oil reserves, Iran has only limited refining capacity, so it imports large quantities of refined products such as gasoline.

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Israel Matzav: Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran