Missiles as Sanctions Enforcement: The US Just Started Targeting Iran's Wallet, Not Just Its Weapons
The United States struck multiple Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and Jask on Tuesday — and hours later, the Treasury rolled out 36 new sanctions against Iran's aviation sector. Taken together, these aren't two separate stories. They're one strategy: Washington is now using both missiles and money to go after the same target — Iran's ability to fund this war.
Bottom Line
THE BOTTOM LINE: The US is fusing its military campaign and its sanctions campaign into a single instrument aimed at Iran's revenue, and in doing so it's rewriting the rules for state-linked commercial shipping worldwide. The IRGC has promised a response, the ceasefire is long dead, and the precedent set this week — that a tanker can be a target, not just a sanctions entry — will outlast this war.