US weighs steps to cut Iran off from the global economy
The United States is preparing to increase pressure on countries that continue trading with Iran, aiming to isolate it from the world economy. Exactly which partners and how much trade would be affected remains an open question.
The United States is working on an approach aimed at reducing Iran's role in global trade, seeking to isolate the country as much as possible from the international economy.
Such a policy would mean Washington needs to focus not only on Iran itself, but also on its major trading partners — the countries and companies that continue economic ties with Tehran despite existing restrictions.
What is at stake
How broad and costly such an isolation effort would be depends heavily on how dependent Iran's economy is on foreign trade and how close its ties are with particular partners. The larger and more diverse that trade is, the more complicated and consequential any US effort to disrupt it would become.
For now, precise details on which countries and sectors would be most affected have not been disclosed, but the question itself suggests that a broader pressure campaign against Iran's economy is being prepared in Washington.
This step would fit into a longer-running US policy that has for years relied on various sanctions and restrictions against Iran, aimed at influencing its government's actions on regional and nuclear issues, while also trying to limit the country's ability to generate revenue from international trade.
