LOS ANGELES — International efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons will be given a new lease on life this month, because France has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. As Council president, France — which shares America's views about the need to strengthen sanctions on Iran's government — can raise the matter, something that China eschewed during its tenure in January as UNSC leader.
But, even if a revived Franco-American effort were to succeed in getting the UNSC to endorse targeted penalties to hamstring the financial underpinnings of the Revolutionary Guards and other Iranian elites, the proposed measures appear to be too modest.
They arguably add little to three prior sanction resolutions that ban the export of nuclear and ballistic-missile technology and conventional arms and freeze the assets and travel of a handful of Iranian officials. Moreover, despite the pain they impose, economic sanctions historically have a poor record of prompting countries to change fundamental policy.
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