Israel calls for tougher US sanctions on Iran

The Israeli government has criticised Washington for failing to impose tougher sanctions against Iran, and blamed what he called the “hesitation” of the US administration on “election-year considerations”.

Voicing an unusually blunt assessment of US foreign policy, Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s vice prime minister, said he was “disappointed” that the administration of President Barack Obama had not fully implemented a recent US Senate resolution calling for a series of harsh sanctions against Iran’s central bank and oil industry.

He told Israeli radio on Sunday: “In the US administration there is hesitation for fear of oil prices rising this year, out of election-year considerations. In that regard, this is certainly a disappointment, for now.”

A key member of the inner circle around Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Mr Yaalon contrasted the US stance with the position taken by France and Britain. Both European countries, he said, were “taking a very firm stand and understand sanctions must be imposed immediately”.

Asked about Mr Yaalon’s comments, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office said: “Israel believes that more needs to be done, and that it is important to implement tough sanctions immediately – both against the central bank and against the petrochemical industry. There should be an immediate follow-through.”

Senior Israeli officials are normally deeply reluctant to voice open criticism of the US administration, especially on a matter as sensitive as the international effort to halt Iran’s nuclear programme. The Israeli government views the programme as an existential threat to the Jewish state, and says it is determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

President Obama has made clear repeatedly that he shares the same goal. He introduced new sanctions late last months that are designed to halt financial transactions between foreign firms and the Iranian central bank, which clears most of the country’s oil exports. US administration officials point to recent comments by Mr Netanyahu that Iran had begun to “wobble” as evidence that the sanctions are working.

However, the US has so far stopped short of implementing sanctions that target Iran’s oil sector directly. Washington is also – at least for the moment – strictly opposed to using military force against Iran. Israel, in contrast, says the credible threat of air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities must remain part of the international effort to contain Iran.

Source: The Financial Times Limited