Eli Lake, Columnist

Trump’s Sanctions Miss a Chance to Help Iran’s Protesters

Rather than just hitting the nation’s economy, U.S. penalties should target those responsible for repression.

August 7, 2018 at 10:00 AM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

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In light of the recent demonstrations in Iranian cities, one might think the Donald Trump administration would want to link Monday's re-implementation of sanctions to the struggles of Iran's freedom movement.

After all, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month detailed the corruption of the current regime in Tehran in a speech at the Reagan Library in California. In May, the Treasury Department implemented sanctions against Evin Prison, the dungeon where many demonstrators and activists end up after the Iranian authorities arrest them. As a senior U.S. official told reporters Monday morning, "the Iranian people should not suffer because of their regime's hegemonic ambitions."